Eight people killed at Asian massage parlors in Atlanta, suspect arrested

Eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were shot and killed at three Atlanta-area massage parlors on Tuesday, police reported, announcing the arrest of a suspect.

Whether these attacks had a racist motive is still unknown, but they took place against a backdrop of an upsurge in anti-Asian acts in the United States.

After examining the CCTV footage, "it is highly probable" that the same shooter was involved in all three attacks, a police spokesman told AFP.

A first shooting killing four and wounding two took place around 5 p.m. local time (9 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday at a massage parlor nearly 50 km from Atlanta, the largest city in the state of Georgia, in the south. is from the United States, said a spokesman for the county police, quoted by the daily Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

A suspect in custody

Later in the afternoon, two more shootings left four dead in two neighboring massage parlors in Atlanta, city police said in a statement to AFP.

"On their arrival, the police found three women who had died inside (the massage parlor) from visible gunshot wounds. Still there, the police were informed of shots fired from across the street," where they found another deceased woman, the statement said.

A suspect has been in custody since Tuesday evening, Cherokee County police said in a Facebook post: Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested more than 240 km south of Atlanta.

The

daily

reports that the first shooting took place in an Asian massage parlor, where two women of Asian descent, a white woman, and a white man died.

In addition, the four victims of the other two shootings are themselves of Asian origin still according to the

.

Reinforcement patrols "as a precautionary measure"

“Tonight's (Tuesday) attacks on members of the Asian-American community in Georgia are absolutely horrifying. As reports continue to flow, this attack unfortunately follows the trend of violence against Asian-Americans that has exploded in through the pandemic ", reacted the President of the Democratic Party of Georgia Nikema Williams in a statement.

On Tuesday evening, the New York police announced "as a precaution" the sending of reinforcement patrols in areas concentrating residents of Asian origin.

“Today's tragic murders in Atlanta reaffirm the need to act and protect ALL marginalized minorities in America from racism,” tweeted famous lawyer Ben Crump, known to represent those close to George Floyd.