Home WebMail Friday, November 1, 2024, 11:24 AM | Calgary | -4.5°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Posted: 2021-03-18T21:58:36Z | Updated: 2021-03-20T16:13:19Z

Eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were killed Tuesday after a gunman opened fire at three massage spas in northern Georgia.

Law enforcement officials apprehended Robert Aaron Long, 21, hours after the shootings and he confessed later that night to carrying out the attacks, police said.

During a news conference Wednesday, law enforcement officials said it was too early to determine whether the shootings were racially motivated. Long told investigators he had issues with sexual addiction and that he targeted the spas to take out that temptation, authorities said.

The killings shook Asian American communities across the country amid a surge in racist incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islander people. Asian women were 2.3 times more likely to report being targeted in an incident of anti-Asian racism over the past year, according to a report from Stop AAPI Hate , a national coalition that has been documenting these incidents.

Cherokee County officials released the identities of the five people shot four of whom were killed shortly after the incident at Youngs Asian Massage, the first spa where Long allegedly opened fire Tuesday. Atlanta officials publicly identified the four female victims of the subsequent shootings at Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa on Friday. Three died at Gold Spa, while one was found at Aromatherapy nearby.

Heres what we know about the victims so far:

Xiaojie Emily Tan