At least eight people died on Tuesday in shootings at three spas in the Atlanta area. A suspect was arrested in connection with one of the shootings, and Atlanta police said it is “extremely likely” that he will also be the suspect in the other two shootings.
At about 5 pm, a shootout at Young’s Asian Massage in Cherokee County killed four people, two of whom died after being transported to a hospital, according to the Cherokee County sheriff’s office. A fifth victim was injured and was also transported to a hospital.
Later, three people were shot and killed at the Gold Spa on Piedmont Road in Atlanta. While the police responded to the scene, they received another call for a shootout across the street, at the Aromatherapy Spa, where they found another person who had been shot and killed.
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Atlanta police chief Rodney Bryant said all four victims of the Piedmont Road shooting were women and “appear to be Asian.”
South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to CBS News that at least four of the eight victims were of Korean descent.
Cherokee County Police identified Robert Aaron Long, 21, of Woodstock, as a suspect in the shootings of Young’s Asian massage. Long was taken into custody Tuesday night in Crisp County, Georgia.
He was taken into custody without incident at around 8:30 pm, after Georgia State Patrol soldiers carried out a PIT maneuver “that made the vehicle spin out of control,” according to the Crisp County sheriff’s office.
In a statement Tuesday night, Atlanta police said, “Video footage from our Video Integration Center puts the Cherokee County suspect’s vehicle in the area at the time of our Piedmont Road shootings. It is extremely our suspect is likely to be the same suspect in Cherokee County, who is in custody. “
The FBI is helping with the investigation.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement saying, “The president was briefed overnight about the horrific shootings in Atlanta. White House officials have contacted the mayor’s office and will remain in contact with the FBI. “.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Tokyo, offered his condolences, telling reporters: “We are horrified by this violence, which has no place in America or elsewhere. … We will stand up for the rights of our fellow citizens. , Korean Americans, to be safe, to be treated with dignity. “
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in Twitter thanked law enforcement for the “quick apprehension of a suspect” and said, “Our entire family is praying for the victims of these horrible acts of violence.”
Senator Raphael Warnock tweeted, “My heart is broken tonight after the tragic violence in Atlanta that took eight lives. Once again, we see that hatred is deadly. Praying for the victims’ families and for peace for the community.”
Crisp County Sheriff’s Office
The New York Police Department said that “just in case,” the NYPD Critical Response Command was deployed in Asian communities across New York City in response to Tuesday’s shootings.
“The reports of the murders of several Asian American women today in Atlanta are an indescribable tragedy – for the victims’ families in the first place, but also for the Asian American community, which has recovered from the high levels of racist attacks over the years. last year, “Stop AAPI Hate, an organization that aims to raise awareness of anti-Asian discrimination during the pandemic, said Tuesday night in a statement.
The organization noted that it was not yet clear whether the shootings were “motivated by hatred”, but added: “This latest attack will only exacerbate the fear and pain that the Asian American community continues to endure.”
CBS News Senior Research Unit Producer Pat Milton contributed to this report.