The other three are believed to be of Korean-American descent, Kwangsuk Lee told the Republic of Korea’s deputy consulate general in Atlanta on CNN on Friday.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry decided not to disclose further information about the victims, including their names, “to protect the privacy of the victims and to respect the requests of family members,” Lee said. The South Korean consulate in Atlanta received information Friday about the four victims of Korean descent from Atlanta police, he said.
Some officials have called charges of hate crimes against the suspect, who according to authorities had traveled to perpetrate more attacks when he was arrested.
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for an investigation into the case as soon as possible. The Ministry plans to provide the necessary support for the funeral process.
In Cherokee County, the suspect faces four counts of malicious murder, one counts of attempted murder, one counts of aggravated assault and five counts of use of a firearm while committing a felony. He has also been charged with four counts of murder in connection with the two spa shootings in Atlanta, police said there.
Officials condemn rising anti-Asian hate crimes
Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant has said it is still too early to know the reasons for the suspect and Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace has said the investigation is ongoing and will be filed. the corresponding charges.
But FBI Oversight Secretary Jim Clemente told CNN’s Erin Burnett that the level of planning seen in his actions shows the suspect was motivated by more than one “bad day.”
“His actions show that he addressed a particular type of person that particular day and not only did he go to one place, but he went to a second and a third place,” Clemente said.
While in Atlanta, Biden and Harris did not explicitly state that they considered the shooting a hate crime. But they noted that regardless of the shooter’s motivation, the killings occur as hate crimes against Asian Americans increase.
“The conversation we’ve had today with leaders (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders), and we’re hearing across the country, is that hatred and violence are often hidden from view. It’s often in silence.” , said Biden. “This has been true throughout our history, but that must change because our silence is complicity.”
Senator Tammy Duckworth told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she was not surprised by the attack that killed so many Asian women.
“We’ve been marching towards more and more violent hate crimes against AAPIs over the last year,” Duckworth said.
Victims leave families behind: “She was one of my best friends”
The names of the eight people killed have been released.
Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, of Acworth; Paul Andre Michels, 54, of Atlanta; Xiaojie Tan, 49, of Kennesaw; and Daoyou Feng, 44, were shot dead by Youngs’ Asian massage in Cherokee County.
Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, 30, of Acworth, was also shot against Youngs Asian Massage but survived.
About 30 miles away and within an hour of the first shooting, four Asian women were killed in Atlanta, three at the Gold Massage Spa and one at the Aroma Therapy Spa on the street, authorities said.
The four victims in Atlanta were: Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; and Yong Ae Yue, 63, according to the Fulton County Medical Office.
Of those four, three died from gunshot wounds to the head and one died from gunshot wounds to the chest, the medical office said.
“She was one of my best friends and the strongest influence on who we are today,” Park wrote.
The GoFundMe page, created by Grant’s two sons, had raised more than $ 2 million from more than 50,000 donors since Saturday morning. GoFundMe told CNN that the page is verified; Park did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
On the page it is said that the money given will pay for food, rent and other monthly bills. He says the siblings are now only in the United States, with all other South Korean relatives.
“Losing it has put me on a new lens about how much hatred exists in our world,” Park wrote.
“About an hour into … I heard the shots. I didn’t see anything, I just started thinking it was in the room where my wife was,” he told the newspaper.
“(The shooter) took away the most valuable thing I had in my life,” Gonzalez said. “It just left me in pain.”
Jason Hanna, Gregory Lemos, Audrey Ash, Nicole Chavez, Gisela Crespo, Nicquel Ellis, Jamiel Lynch, Paul P. Murphy, Raja Razek, Casey Tolan, Amir Vera, Amanda Watts, and CNN’s Holly contributed to this report.