The suspect behind shooting attacks that killed eight people in Atlanta was charged with eight counts of murder on Wednesday, with officials saying he may have planned further attacks.
Police and city leaders also indicated they believe Robert Aaron Long, 21, who did not resist arrest when he was apprehended, was on his way to Florida after Tuesday evening’s attack, where they suspect he may have planned to “carry out additional shootings”.
They said it was too early to determine whether the attacks, in which six of the victims were women of Asian descent, were racially motivated hate crimes.
The attacks sent terror through an Asian American community that has increasingly been targeted during the coronavirus pandemic. Atlanta’s mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, said that regardless of the shooter’s motivation, “it is unacceptable, it is hateful and it has to stop”.
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Suspect arrested after shootings at three Atlanta massage parlors leave eight dead – video
Frank Reynolds, the Cherokee county sheriff, said: “We were able to interview him with the Atlanta police department and the FBI. He made indicators that he has some issues, potentially sexual addiction, and may have frequented some of these places in the past.”
Jay Baker, a Cherokee county sheriff’s captain, said the parlors were a “temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate”, indicating a clash with his strong Christian faith.
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Police said the suspect, who is understood to have acted alone, admitted to the shootings, and a 9mm firearm was found in his vehicle. His image had been captured on security cameras at the premises where he went on the shooting attack.
Long was charged with eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault and was kept in custody. He was expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday.
The shootings appear to be at the “intersection of gender-based violence, misogyny and xenophobia”, said the state representative Bee Nguyen, the first Vietnamese American to serve in the Georgia house of representatives and a frequent advocate for women and communities of color.
Authorities on Wednesday afternoon released some of the names of the victims.
The Cherokee county sheriff’s office identified the victims who died in the first shooting, at Youngs Asian Massage in Acworth, as Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, Paul Andre Michels, 54, Xiaojie Yan, 49, and Daoyou Feng, 44. The sheriff’s office identified an injured person as 30-year-old Elcias R Hernandez-Ortiz.
On Wednesday, many people came to place flowers, candles and signs outside the three spas to honor the shooting victims.
Yalaba Mendoza arrived at Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa, which sit across the street from each other in Atlanta, with three flower bouquets: two bunches of white roses and one pink.
“I had to support my brothers and sisters when they had this tragic loss. You have people [who will be] growing up without mothers and without fathers because of hate,” said Mendoza, who is Black.
Christina Lee, a Georgia music and culture journalist, said her Vietnamese mother had come to mind when she heard about the shootings.
“I’m thinking about my mom, who owned a nail salon at one point,” said Lee, a Georgia music and culture journalist. “These are the kinds of businesses that open up to people who are new to this country. And to learn that the victims were Korean, that hit home for me too because I’m half Korean.”
“How is it possible that this wasn’t a hate crime?” she added, referring to police, who said they have not yet established whether the crime was racially motivated. “I don’t understand that logic, and I hope someone will explain this to me.”
‘It is unacceptable. It has to stop’
The Acworth shooting was reported at about 5pm local time.
At 5.37pm, police responded to a report of a robbery at Gold Spa and found the bodies of three women with gunshot wounds. They then received a report of shots fired across the street at Aromatherapy Spa where they found another woman’s body.
Long, of Woodstock, Georgia, who is white, was arrested after a manhunt about 150 miles south of Atlanta in Crisp county after police released surveillance footage from outside one of the massage parlors that was identified by his family. He was then tracked on his mobile phone.
Bottoms, Atlanta’s mayor, said: “As tragic as this was … this could have been a significantly worse.”
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She praised police coordination, saying if the suspect had not been quickly apprehended “it is very likely that there would have been more victims”.
Rodney Bryant, Atlanta’s police chief, said investigators were not ready to say whether the shootings were a hate crime, saying: “We are still early in this investigation, so we cannot make that determination at this moment.”
Regardless of motivation, Bottoms said: “We know that many of the victims, the majority of the victims, were Asian. We also know that this is an issue that’s happening across the country. It is unacceptable, it is hateful, and it has to stop.”
Investigators believe the suspect bought the gun used in the attack this week, CNN reported. According to the news channel, law enforcement sources said nothing in Long’s background would have prevented that purchase.
Joe Biden said on Wednesday that violence against Asian Americans was “very, very troubling” but that he was “making no connection at this moment of the motivation of the killer”.
The president added: “I am waiting for an answer from, as the investigation proceeds, from the FBI and from the justice department. So I’ll have more to say when the investigation is completed.”
Biden has asked Susan Rice, domestic policy adviser, and Cedric Richmond, public engagement director and senior adviser, to put on community listening sessions following the shooting to “determine how that should impact policies moving forward”, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said.
Kamala Harris condemned the “tragic” shooting, which she said “speaks to a larger issue, which is the issue of violence in our country”.
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‘Very troubling’: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Atlanta spa shootings – video
Addressing Asian Americans, the vice-president said: “We stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged all people. But knowing the increasing level of hate crime against our Asian American brothers and sisters, we also want to speak out in solidarity with them and acknowledge that none of us should ever be silent in the face of any form of hate.”
Barack Obama said the incident was a “tragic reminder” that America has neglected the “epidemic of gun violence”. “Although the shooter’s motive is not yet clear, the identity of the victims underscores an alarming rise in anti-Asian violence that must end,” the former president tweeted.
The first lady, Jill Biden, addressed the victims’ families during a visit to a school in Concord, New Hampshire, saying: “My heart is with you. And I hope that all Americans will join me in praying for everyone touched by this senseless tragedy.”
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