Georgia State Patrol used a tactical PIT (chase intervention technique) maneuver on a highway on Tuesday night to stop the suspect, after three shootings in Atlanta left at least eight dead and raised fears that the killings could be racially motivated. according to a report.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, was taken into custody without incident, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Long was reportedly driving south on Interstate 75 in Crisp County when he was defeated by the state policeman.
Investigators said they had only just started the investigation, but said the first shootout took place around 5 pm at Young’s Asian Massage in the town of Ackworth in Cherokee County. Two victims died at the scene and three were transported to a hospital, where two later died.
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Less than an hour after the first shooting, police in the Buckhead neighborhood of northeastern Atlanta responded to an ongoing assault call and found three women killed by apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa.
While in that scene, the police received a call for shots fired at another spa across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, and found a woman who appeared to have been shot to death inside the establishment.
At least six of the eight victims were Asian women, officials said. Although officials have said it is too early to say whether race played a role, shootings take place at a time when anti-Asian crimes have increased in the United States.
At least four of the women were of Korean descent, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
In the past two years, there have been only two homicide investigations in Cherokee County, according to the Journal-Constitution.
Crisp County authorities took Long into custody at about 8:30 pm Tuesday, about 30 minutes after the county became aware of his location.
The PIT maneuver, which “caused the vehicle to get out of control,” according to Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock, is often used to end persecution.
Long was arrested and charged with murder.
“It is extremely likely that our suspect is the same one from Cherokee County,” the Atlanta police spokesman, Sergeant. John Chafee said based on video evidence of the three shots.
Police said the video showed Long’s vehicle in the Atlanta spa area at the time of the attacks, after his SUV was seen in a surveillance video parking at Acworth’s spa. Atlanta and Cherokee County officials are working to confirm that the cases are related.
Governor Brian Kemp tweeted that his “family is praying for the victims of these horrific acts of violence. We are deeply grateful for the quick apprehension of a suspect” by the Georgia Department of Public Security, which oversees the state patrol, “in coordination with the location and application. of federal law. “
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FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson said the agency was assisting Atlanta and Cherokee County officials in the investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.