The bloody attacks – which took place in about an hour – occurred in two salons in northeastern Atlanta and one about 30 miles northwest of the city in Cherokee County.
Police believe a 21-year-old suspect taken into custody on Tuesday night was probably responsible for the three attacks.
Authorities have not identified the victims as they work to notify their immediate relatives. But four were described as ethnic Korean by the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
Earlier, Atlanta police chief Rodney Bryant said at least four of the victims were women and appeared to be Asian.
Among the many issues that remain in the case, authorities are still investigating the reason behind the shootings. But the details of how the horror unfolded are becoming clearer.
How the shooting unfolded
Although spread over 30 miles, the attacks occurred in rapid succession.
At about 5 pm Tuesday, MPs were called to Young’s Asian massage near Acworth, Georgia, for reports of a shootout, said Cherokee County Sheriff’s spokesman Jay Baker.
The deputies who responded found five people with gunshot wounds. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene and three were transported to a hospital, where two died, Baker said.
About an hour later and 30 miles away, Atlanta police responded to what was described as a robbery at the Gold Massage Spa on Piedmont Road, Atlanta. The police claim to have found three dead.
While there, police received another call for shots fired in the street at the Aroma Therapy Spa, where they found a dead person, Bryant said.
Authorities in the area, known as Atlanta’s Zone 2, said they are stepping up patrols around similar companies, and FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson said the agency is helping with the investigations.
The suspect
At around 8:30 pm, the highway patrol about 150 miles south of the city was alerted that a suspect in the Cherokee County shooting was coming his way, Sheriff Frank Reynolds said in a video on the Sheriff’s Department Facebook page from Crisp County.
After his vehicle was located, a chase occurred on Interstate 75 and a state policeman carried out a maneuver that left the SUV out of control.
“The suspect was taken into custody without incident … and transported to Crisp County Prison,” said the officer.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office identified him as Robert Aaron Long, 21, of Woodstock.
Police believe Long is also responsible for the Atlanta shootings, the Atlanta Police Department said in a press release.
“Video footage from our Video Integration Center shows the Cherokee County suspect’s vehicle in the area at the time of our shootings on the Piedmont Road,” the Atlanta Police Department said in a press release. “This, along with the video evidence seen by investigators, suggests that it is extremely likely that our suspect is the same one from Cherokee County, who is in custody. Because of this, an APD investigator is in Cherokee County and we are working in close collaboration with them to confirm with certainty that our cases are related. “
A shaken community
It is not yet clear whether the violence was motivated by hatred – and the police did not provide any reason for the 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 high levels of racist attacks over the years. last year, “he said. “This latest attack will only exacerbate the fear and pain that the Asian American community continues to endure.”
In Seattle, authorities increased the reach of community organizations and increased the presence of police patrols, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan and Police Chief Adrian Diaz said in a statement.
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson condemned the shooting “in the strongest possible terms”.
CNN’s Nicole Chavez, Raja Razek, Jamiel Lynch and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.