The Georgia sheriff’s captain, who caused a furore by saying the Atlanta spa shooter had a “bad day” when he allegedly went on a murderous disaster, has been taken off the case, officials said.
Captain Jay Baker will no longer act as a spokesperson for the case after controversial comments made Wednesday, a day after Robert Aaron Long allegedly shot eight people – including six Asian women – in massage parlors in the Atlanta area, WSB reported. TV.
The network said the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, where Baker serves as communications director, is also evaluating his future at the department.
After the massacre, Baker told reporters that Long was trying to “eliminate” a sexual “seduction” by opening fire in the three spas and massage parlors.
“He was quite fed up and a little bit on the end of his rope, and yesterday was a really bad day for him, and this is what he did,” he told reporters at the time.
Baker, who has served in law enforcement for 28 years, also reportedly posted a photo on Facebook blaming China for the COVID-19 pandemic. The message has since been deleted.
Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds apologized Thursday for Baker’s “insensitive” and “inappropriate” comments, saying the faintness did not mean disdain for the victims or “express empathy or condolences to the suspect.”
Reynolds spoke to WSB-TV and said Baker used “bad word choice” and called his Facebook post “unfortunate.”
“That’s where we have to look at Jay’s future at the Sheriff’s Office and what it looks like,” he told the network. “We haven’t made that decision yet.”