A 21-year-old white man has been charged with the three deadly shootings that occurred Tuesday night at spa salons in metro Atlanta, Georause lgia, which killed eight people, authorities said Wednesday.
Robert Aaron Long faces eight counts of murder and one of aggravated assault and will not be entitled to bail, after admitting to carrying out the attack that killed six women of Asian descent and two other white people, according to authorities.
Investigators said the defendant denied any racist or political motivation for the attack and alluded to an alleged
"sex addiction" for which he blamed the businesses
he opened fire on.
A memorial is improvised outside one of the attacked businesses in Atlanta.
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office stated that the shooter "gave indications that he has some problems
, potentially sexual addiction"
and said the motivations for the shooting are still being clarified.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said spas are "legally operating businesses" and authorities are not trying to "blame or embarrass the victims."
"Yesterday was a tragic day across our state," Bottoms said.
"A crime against any community is a crime against all of us."
[This mother reported the disappearance of her son and showed no remorse when the terrible truth was known]
Authorities identified the victims who
died in Cherokee County
as 33-year-old Delaina Ashley Yaun, 54-year-old Paul Andre Michels, 49-year-old Xiaojie Yan and 44-year-old Daoyou Feng.
There was a survivor who was identified as Elcias R. Hernandez Ortiz, 30 years old.
Three shootings in metro Atlanta leave eight dead
March 17, 202100: 20
The alleged murderer was a "frequent user" of these premises, according to the authorities and they represented
"a temptation that he wanted to eliminate
.
"
Investigators said there could be many more victims to regret had they not been caught quickly.
In an interview with the authorities, the attacker assured that he was going to Florida and that he
was going to commit crimes
similar to those in Atlanta there.
[Murder-suicide in Pennsylvania: three dead after a fight between neighbors shoveling snow]
The man was detained in Crisp County, about 125 kilometers south of Atlanta after authorities tracked his movements via GPS.
His vehicle
was seen heading south on I-75
, and a Georgia police officer used a maneuver, in which a police car is used to physically stop another vehicle.
Two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News that the
9mm pistol Long used was legally purchased
Tuesday, before the shooting.
Robert Aaron Long was arrested as a suspect in the Atlanta spa shootings.
The FBI joined the investigation of the attacks, which began Tuesday around 5:00 pm, when four people were killed in Acworth, a northern suburb of Atlanta.
Less than an hour later, four women were killed in two other shootings in that city, in Cherokee County.
The Cherokee Sheriff's Office received a call for shooting at the
Youngs Asian Massage
facility in Acworth, Georgia.
Upon arrival,
officers found five people with gunshot wounds
, two of whom were dead and the others were taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
Two of the wounded subsequently died.
[His son was found dead and tortured on a beach. This Latina will spend the rest of her life in prison in Texas]
About 45 minutes after the shooting in Cherokee County and 30 miles away, Atlanta police responded to a report of a robbery on Piedmont Road in the northeast part of the city.
Authorities discovered three women dead from apparent gunshot wounds
and, while at the scene, received a gunshot call from across the street, where a woman was found dead inside a business, Atlanta police said.
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that President Joe Biden had been briefed overnight on the "horrible shooting in Atlanta."
"White House officials have been in contact with the mayor's office and will continue to be in contact with the FBI," he said.
[Aggressions against older adults of Asian origin skyrocket]
The South Korean Foreign Ministry told NBC News that
four of the women who died were of Korean origin
, but their nationalities have not yet been verified.
During a visit to South Korea, Secretary of State Antony Blinken referred to the shootings and said that such violence had no place in the United States or anywhere.
"We will defend the right of our fellow Americans and
Koreans to be safe and to be treated with dignity,
" he said.
Agents outside a massage parlor in Atlanta following a shooting on March 16, 2021.
Since the shootings occurred at massage parlors and spas, Atlanta police said Tuesday night that officers were dispatched to similar businesses and patrols increased.
The same thing happened in New York City: the police deployed counterterrorism agents in Asian communities as a precaution.
[Two men accused of assaulting the policeman who died during the assault on the Capitol are arrested]
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan called the violence in Atlanta an "act of hatred" and said she and Police Chief Adrian Diaz are taking additional steps to
protect Seattle's Asian-American communities
, including patrols. additional police officers.
After the killings, Senator Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, said he was praying for the victims' families and the community.
"My heart is broken tonight after the tragic violence in Atlanta that claimed eight lives. Once again we see that hatred is deadly. Praying for the families of the victims and for the peace of the community," he tweeted.
"
Our entire family is praying for the victims
of these horrific acts of violence," Georgia Governor Brian Kemp tweeted, adding his thanks for the suspect's swift arrest.
With information from NBC News, The Washington Post.
