Eight people are dead following separate shootings at three Asian spas in the Atlanta area on Tuesday.
Two of the shootings occurred at massage parlors across the street from each other in northeast Atlanta, WSB TV reported.
A third shooting, that left four people dead, was at a massage parlor in Cherokee County, about 30 miles northwest of the city.
Atlanta police responded to a robbery call at the Gold Massage Spa on Piedmont Road around 5 p.m. in Atlanta. They found three people dead at the scene. All three were Asian women.
While there, police received another call of a shooting at Aroma Therapy Spa across the street, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Officers found one person dead at that location, Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said. The victim was an Asian female, according to AJC.com.
About an hour later, deputies responded to 911 calls of shots fired at Young’s Asian Massage near Acworth, Georgia, where five people were found with gunshot wounds.
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene. Three were transported to a hospital, where two died, Cherokee County Sheriff’s spokesperson Jay Baker said.
The victims were two Asian women, a white woman and a white man, Baker said. The fifth victim, a Hispanic male, is being treated at a hospital.
Police initially said it was too early to connect all three shootings. A video image of a white male suspect was circulated in the news media.
Law enforcement later apprehended Robert Aaron Long, 21, in Crisp County, about 150 miles south of Atlanta, around 8:30 p.m., CNN reported.
A Georgia State Patrol officer spotted Long’s SUV and performed a PIT maneuver as he traveled south on I-75, AJC.com reported.
Long, of Woodstock, was captured about 3 1/2 hours after the murders, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
Officials in three jurisdictions are investigating the cases. Long is being held without bail in the Crisp County Detention Center.
