Georgia massage parlor shootings leave 8 dead; man captured
ATLANTA GA March 17 2021
Police arrested a suspect after eight people were killed in shootings at three separate massage parlors, Tuesday.
Two spas were in Atlanta and one was in Cherokee County.
Police said many of the victims are Asian women and Cherokee County officials confirmed to 11Alive there is one suspect for all of the shootings.
Four people were killed and one other injured at Young Asians Massage Parlor in Cherokee County at around 5:00 p.m., officials said. When deputies got there, Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said they found two people who were dead inside, with three others still alive.
Emergency crews rushed the three to the hospital, but two of them have since died.
The identities of those who were killed have not yet been released but officials described two as Asian women, one as a White woman and one as a White man. The person still hospitalized was also a man, officials said.
Shortly after, shootings at two Atlanta massage parlors that are across the street from each other on Piedmont road left four dead.
Atlanta Police said three people were killed at the Gold Spa. The fourth person was killed across the street at the Aromatherapy Spa. Those calls came in at 5:47 p.m. and 5:57 p.m. according to Atlanta Police Department’s call sheet.
APD said it appears the victims are all Asian women. Although the call came in as a robbery, interim Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said they are still investigating the motive.
Tuesday evening, Cherokee officials released surveillance pictures of Robert Aaron Long, 21 of Woodstock and asked the public for help locating him.
Just before 9:00 p.m. Cherokee officials said he was arrested in Crisp County, Georgia which is off I-75 in South Central Georgia.
Officials told 11Alive’s Jon Shirek they used a pit maneuver to stop his vehicle.
Long is the lone suspect in both the shootings in Atlanta and the Cherokee County shooting. Police have not released a motive. According to Cherokee County officials, video surveillance at the Atlanta spas show the same man and car that video shows at the Cherokee County spa.
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