Updated March 17, 2021 at 2:37 AM ET
At least eight people were killed and several others injured in a series of shootings at three spas in the Atlanta metro region Tuesday. A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with all three shootings, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office announced that Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man from Woodstock, Ga., was arrested at about 8:30 p.m. local time following a chase that led officers into Crisp County — about three hours away from where the first shootings at a spa occurred, according to police who spoke during a brief press conference. Long was transported to the Crisp County Detention Center, police said.
Records searches into Long's background do not show any prior criminal history.
The FBI is assisting Cherokee County and Atlanta police in this investigation, Kevin Rowson, a spokesman for the FBI's Atlanta office, told NPR.
Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said when officers arrived at Young's Asian Massage, two victims were already dead and another three were still alive, local news station 11Alive reported. The wounded were rushed to a local hospital, but two have since died. One of the victims was a man, as is a survivor, officials said.
The names of the four people killed at Young's Asian Massage, as well as that of the person who was injured, have not been released by authorities.
About an hour after that shooting, Atlanta police officers were called to respond to a robbery in progress at Gold Spa. Once there, they discovered the bodies of three women who had been fatally shot. Moments later, officers were called to another shooting across the street at a different spa — Aromatherapy Spa — where one more woman was found dead of a gunshot wound.
Authorities said many of the victims appeared to be women of Asian descent. None of the names of the injured or deceased have been publicly released.
Police have not explained what the motive might be, but the killings come as violence against Asian Americans has spiked during the coronavirus pandemic.
Stop AAPI Hate tracks reports of violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Since March 19, 2020, around the start of the pandemic, until Feb. 28 of this year, the organization learned of 3,795 "hate incidents" against the Asian American community, according to a report the organization released Tuesday.
It said that number represents a fraction of the true number of hate crimes committed against the community. They range from verbal harassment and shunning to more extreme acts of physical attacks.
Following reports of the shootings in Atlanta, police in New York and Seattle said they are boosting the law enforcement presence in Asian American communities.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an Atlanta-based legal advocacy nonprofit, said late Tuesday that the organization is "shaken by the violence in our city."
We are shaken by the violence in our city that has left 8 ppl dead, including members of the Asian American community. We are gathering info about what happened & the needs of directly impacted are. Now is the time to hold the victims & their families in our hearts & with light pic.twitter.com/Hft5H7IZNW
— AdvancingJusticeATL (@AAAJ_Atlanta) March 17, 2021
This is a breaking news story. Some things reported by the media will later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops.
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