At least eight people died in shootings at three Atlanta spas on Tuesday. A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with one of the shootings, and Atlanta police said it is “very likely” that he is also the suspect in the other two shootings.
According to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s office, around 5:00 p.m. a shooting at Young’s Asian Massage in Cherokee County killed four people, two of whom died after being transported to a hospital. A fifth victim was injured and was also taken to hospital.
Three people were later shot at Gold Spa on Piedmont Road in Atlanta. While agents responded to the scene, they received another call for a shooting across the street at Aromatherapy Spa, where they found another person shot and killed.
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Atlanta police chief Rodney Bryant said all four victims of the Piedmont Road shootings were women and “appeared Asian.”
South Korea’s State Department 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 Young’s Asian Massage shooting. Long was arrested Tuesday night in Crisp County, Georgia.
He was taken into custody without incident around 8:30 p.m. after Georgia State Patrol troopers carried out a PIT maneuver “which left the vehicle out of control,” the Crisp County Sheriff’s office said.
In a statement Tuesday night, Atlanta police said, “Video footage from our Video Integration Center locates the Cherokee County suspect’s vehicle in the area around the time of our shootings on Piedmont Road. That suggests, along with video evidence provided by investigators. If this is the case, it is very likely that our suspect is the same as Cherokee County, who is in custody. “
The FBI is assisting with the investigation.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki released a statement saying: “The president has been briefed overnight about the horrific shootings in Atlanta. mayor and will keep in touch with the FBI. “
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Tokyo, expressed his condolences and told reporters: “We are shocked by this violence, which, by the way, does not occur anywhere in America or anywhere. … We will stand up for the right of our fellow countrymen, Korean people. Americans should be treated with dignity just in case. “
Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia op Twitter thanked the police for “swift arrest of a suspect” and said, “Our entire family is praying for the victims of these heinous 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 kills. Pray for the families of the victims and for peace for the community.”
Crisp County Sheriff’s Office
New York police said “out of an abundance of caution” the NYPD’s Critical Response Command has been deployed to Asian communities across New York City in response to Tuesday’s shootings.
“The reported shootings of multiple Asian-American women in Atlanta today are an unspeakable tragedy – primarily for the families of the victims, but also for the Asian-American community over the course of last year,” Stop AAPI Hate, an organization seeking to raise awareness of anti-Asian discrimination during the pandemic, ”said in a statement Tuesday night.
The organization noted that it was still unclear 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 Investigative Unit Senior Producer Pat Milton contributed to this report.