Seven dead in three Atlanta massage parlor shootings
- by Carmen Reese
- in Science
- — Mar 17, 2021
At least seven people were killed in shootings at three different spas in the USA state of Georgia Tuesday, local media reported, though it was unclear if the attacks were related.
The attacks began around 5 pm, when four people were killed and another injured at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor in a strip mall near a rural area in Acworth, about 50 kilometers from Atlanta, said Cherokee County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Captain Jay Baker.
The shootings spanned three businesses across two counties around Atlanta. They found three women dead inside, apparently from gunshot wounds, he said.
Atlanta police said that all four victims on Piedmont Road appeared to be Asian women.
Long was taken into custody in Crisp County, about 150 miles south of Atlanta, around 8:30 p.m. after a auto chase, WSB-TV reported.
Surveillance footage from the scene of the Cherokee County shooting and wanted man Robert Aaron Long.
Authorities investigate a fatal shooting at a massage parlor, late Tuesday, March 16, 2021, in Woodstock, Georgia.
In New York, members of the police department's critical response command deployed to Asian communities throughout the city in response to the shootings, a spokesman for the NYPD told CNN.
This undated photo provided by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, in Georgia, shows a person of interest in a massage parlor shooting.
Two victims died and three were rushed to a local hospital where two also died, according to police.
Robert Aaron Long was arrested hours after the shootings.
"That, along with video evidence viewed by investigators, suggests it is extremely likely our suspect is the same as Cherokee County's, who is in custody".
Although Long has not been named as a suspect in Buckhead, law enforcement said it appears all three shootings may be related. Bryant said it was too early to say what their connection was to the spas.
Atlanta police said they had been in touch with authorities in Cherokee County.
Chafee adds that since the shootings, "patrols have been increased in those areas".
