Shot in Georgia massage parlor: eight dead, presumed arrested

A suspect is being held after eight people were killed and one person was injured in three different shooting incidents at different massage parlors in the Atlanta metropolitan area on Tuesday evening.

Note: Georgia law enforcement officials said all but one of the victims were women, and six were of Asian descent, which worried the attacks were racially motivated, according to the New York Times. Seoul officials said four of the victims were of South Korean descent.

What we know: The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man from Woodstock, Georgia, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with murder. The FBI is assisting Atlanta and Cherokee County authorities in the investigation.

• The attacks began around 5 p.m. at the Youngs Asian Massage Salon, about 30 miles north of Atlanta, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office reported. Two people died at the scene and three were taken to hospital, where two of them died.
• About 50 minutes later, police who responded to reports of a robbery found three people dead at Gold Spa in the Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead.
• While they were there, they received reports of shots fired at the Aromatherapy Spa across the street. When they arrived, they found the body of a woman with gunshot wounds.
• The Atlanta police department said in a statement that the video footage indicates “it is very likely” that the same person was responsible for the three shootings.

For the record: After the Atlanta shootings, police in New York and Seattle announced that law enforcement presence is increasing in Asian American communities.

• Report Center Stop AAPI Hate said in a statement although it was not immediately known whether Georgia’s executions were motivated by hatred, there is “great fear and pain in the Asian American community … which has suffered high levels of racial discrimination.”
• The group released a report Tuesday that showed that racist violence against Asian Americans has continued to rise, with more than twice as likely to be targeted by women as men.

What they say: His. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) Tweeted“My heart is broken tonight after the tragic violence in Atlanta that lasted eight lives. Once again we see that hatred is deadly. Praying for the families of the victims and for the peace of the community.”

Editor’s Note: This is breaking news. Please check for updates again.