At least eight people, including six Asian women, were killed Tuesday evening in the Atlanta area during a series of shootings at three separate massage parlors. At least one other person was injured during the attacks. The shootings appear to have been a targeted attack against the Asian-American community, which has seen a series of racially motivated acts of violence in recent months.
According to The New York Times , the first shooting took place around 5 p. Four people, including two Asian women, one white man, and one white woman, were killed. A Hispanic man was also injured during the shooting. Three women, all of Asian descent, were killed. Another parlor directly across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, was attacked next: One person, an Asian woman, was found dead there.
The Times reported that an official from the South Korean Consulate in Atlanta confirmed Wednesday that four of the eight victims in the shootings were ethnic Koreans. The alleged shooter was identified by authorities as Robert Aaron Long, a year-old from Woodstock, Georgia. He was taken into police custody Tuesday night after being arrested in Crisp County, about miles south of Atlanta.
Long was arrested after his Hyundai Tucson was spotted in security footage outside one of the parlors. On Wednesday, authorities confirmed that they had charged Long with eight counts of murder across the three shootings. They also said that he had allegedly been planning to travel to Florida after the attacks in Georgia, presumably to bring more violence. Little is known about the alleged murderer at this point. The Daily Beast spoke to one of his former high school classmates, who described him as a hunter and the son of a "youth minister or pastor.
This pretty much sums up my life. It is not certain yet if Long intentionally attacked the massage parlors in an effort to target Asian-Americans. Law enforcement said Wednesday that Long suggested the attacks were borne out of a struggle with sexual addiction, and that he had possibly visited the spas in the past.
