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President Biden has been briefed on the Atlanta–area massage parlor attacks that left eight people dead, as details emerge about the devastating shooting and the suspect.
At least six people of Asian American descent were among the dead. Police have not said whether race played a factor in the shootings.
SUSPECT IN DEADLY ATLANTA SHOOTING SPREE STOPPED BY TROOPER WITH PIT MANEUVER: REPORT
“The President has been briefed overnight about the horrific shootings in Atlanta,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday morning. “White House officials have been in touch with the mayor’s office and will remain in touch with the FBI.”
Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old from Woodstock, Ga., was arrested just hours after the shootings in Crisp County, about 150 miles south of Atlanta, according to officials.
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jay Baker told reporters that investigators still don’t know Long’s relationship with any of the victims or the motive.
“We don’t know if this is a random act,” he said.
The attacks began Tuesday evening when five people were shot at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, about 30 miles north of Atlanta, Baker said. Two people died at the scene and three were taken to a hospital where two died, he said.
SUSPECT IN DEADLY ATLANTA SHOOTING SPREE STOPPED BY TROOPER WITH PIT MANEUVER: REPORT
WSB-TV reported another person, a man, was wounded in the shooting but is expected to survive.
“He was coming out of the store beside the massage parlor and the other store beside it and he was outside,” Adriana Mejia, a niece of the surviving victim, told WSB.
About an hour later, police responding to a call about a robbery found three women dead from apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. While there, officers learned of a call reporting shots fired at another spa across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, and found a woman who appeared to have been shot dead.
“It appears that they may be Asian,” Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said.
Surveillance video recorded a man pulling up to the Acworth business about 10 minutes before the attack there, authorities said, and the same car was spotted outside the Atlanta businesses. A manhunt was launched, and Long was ultimately captured.
Video evidence “suggests it is extremely likely our suspect is the same as Cherokee County’s, who is in custody,” Atlanta police said in a statement. Authorities haven’t specified charges.
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