President Biden was informed of the attacks on massage parlors in the Atlanta area that left eight people dead, as details emerge about the devastating shooting and the suspect.
At least six people of Asian American descent were among the dead. Police did not say whether the race influenced the shootings.
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“The president was briefed overnight about the horrific shootings in Atlanta,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday morning. “White House officials have contacted the mayor’s office and will remain in contact with the FBI.”
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland was also briefed on the matter and the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it would assist with the investigation if necessary.
Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old from Woodstock, Georgia, was arrested just hours after the shootings in Crisp County, about 150 miles south of Atlanta, according to authorities.
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office captain Jay Baker told reporters that investigators still do not know Long’s relationship with any of the victims or the reason.
“We don’t know if this is a random act,” he said.
The attacks began on Tuesday night, when five people were shot at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, about 30 miles north of Atlanta, Baker said. Two people died at the scene and three were taken to a hospital where two died, he said.
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WSB-TV reported that another person, a man, was injured in the shooting, but is expected to survive.
“He was leaving the store next to the massage parlor and the other store next door and he was outside,” Adriana Mejia, niece of the surviving victim, told the WSB.
About an hour later, police responding to a robbery call found three women killed by apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood. While there, police heard of a call reporting shots fired at another spa across the street, the Aromatherapy Spa, and found a woman who appeared to have been shot to death.
“It looks like they could be Asians,” said Atlanta police chief Rodney Bryant.
The surveillance video recorded a man parking at the Acworth store about 10 minutes before the attack, officials said, and the same car was spotted outside Atlanta companies. A manhunt was launched and Long was finally captured.
The video evidence “suggests that it is extremely likely that our suspect is the same suspect from Cherokee County, who is in custody,” Atlanta police said in a statement. The authorities did not specify charges.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that its diplomats in Atlanta confirmed to the police that four of the killed victims were women of Korean descent. The ministry said its consulate general in Atlanta is trying to confirm the nationality of women.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in South Korea meeting with Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, mentioned the murders during an opening statement.
“We are horrified by this violence that has no place in America or anywhere,” he said, noting that four of the women were considered to be descendants of Koreans.
FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson said the agency was assisting Atlanta and Cherokee County officials in the investigation.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp tweeted on Tuesday that his family “is praying for the victims of these horrific acts of violence. We deeply appreciate the quick apprehension of a suspect” by the Georgia Department of Public Security, which oversees the state patrol ” , in coordination with local and federal authorities. “
Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock said in a video posted on Facebook that his deputies and state police officers were notified late on Tuesday that a murder suspect in northern Georgia was heading towards the county. Deputies and soldiers set up along the interstate and “made contact with the suspect,” he said.
A state police officer performed a PIT maneuver, or chase intervention technique, “that caused the vehicle to spin out of control,” said Hancock. Long was then taken into custody and detained at Crisp County Prison by Cherokee County authorities, who were due to arrive shortly to continue their investigation.
Mary Morgan, who reportedly lives in a house next to Long’s family home, told The Washington Post that the Longs “seem to be a good Christian family”.
“They used to go to church regularly and I never saw anything bad about them,” said the 88-year-old.
Authorities are expected to share more details during a news conference on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, police departments in other parts of the country, including the NYPD in New York City, say they are strengthening forces in Asian communities “out of caution.” Seattle city officials also said they were taking “additional steps” to protect Asian American residents.
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Asian Americans advancing in justice Atlanta released a statement shortly after news of the attacks saying it was “shaken by the violence in our city that left 8 people dead, including members of the Asian American community,” according to reporter 11 Alive Chenue Her.
Stop AAPI Hate, a group focused on fighting hatred against Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands, called the series of shootings “an indescribable tragedy – for the victims’ families in the first place, but also for the AAPI community – which has recovered from high levels of racial discrimination. “
The group also noted in its tweets that it is not yet clear whether the attacks were racially motivated.
David Spunt and Brie Stimson of Fox News contributed to this report, as did The Associated Press.
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