President Biden was briefed on the attacks in the area’s massage parlor in Atlanta that killed eight people as details of the devastating shooting and the suspect came to light.
At least six people of Asian American descent were among the dead. Police did not say whether race played a factor in the shooting.
SUSPECT IN DEADLY ATLANTA SHOOTING STOP STOPPED WITH TROOPER WITH PIT MANEUVER: REPORT
“The president was informed overnight about the horrific shooting in Atlanta,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday morning. “White House officials have been in contact with the mayor’s office and will remain in contact with the FBI.”
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was also briefed on this and the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it would, if necessary, help with the investigation.
Officials say Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old man from Woodstock, Georgia, was arrested in Crisp County, about 250 kilometers south of Atlanta, hours after the shooting.
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jay Baker told reporters that investigators do not yet know Long’s relationship with any of the victims or the motive.
“We do not know if this is a random act,” he said.
The attacks began Tuesday night when five people were shot at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, about 30 miles north of Atlanta, Baker said. Two people were killed at the scene and three were taken to a hospital where two were killed, he said.
SUSPECT IN DEADLY ATLANTA SHOOTING STOP STOPPED WITH TROOPER WITH PIT MANEVER: REPORT
WSB-TV reported that another person, a man, was wounded in the shooting but is expected to survive.
“He was coming out of the store next to the massage parlor and the other store next door and he was outside,” Adriana Mejia, a cousin of the surviving victim, told WSB.
About an hour later, on a call about a robbery, police found three women dead from apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. While they were there, officers heard of a call in which they shot at another spa across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, and found a woman who had apparently been shot dead.
“It turns out they could be Asians,” said Atlanta police chief Rodney Bryant.
According to the video, a man acted at the Acworth business there about ten minutes before the attack, authorities said, and the same car was spotted outside the Atlanta business. A manhunt was launched, and Long was eventually captured.
“According to evidence from the video, it is highly likely that our suspect is the same as Cherokee County, who is in custody,” Atlanta police said in a statement. Authorities did not announce charges.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that its diplomats in Atlanta had confirmed to police that four of the victims who died were women of Korean descent. The ministry said its consulate general in Atlanta was trying to confirm the nationality of the women.
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Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, who is meeting with Chung Eui-yong in South Korea, mentioned the killings during an opening statement.
“We are appalled by this violence, which has no place in America or anywhere,” he said, adding that four of the women were believed to be of Korean descent.
FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson said the agency was assisting Atlanta and Cherokee County authorities in the investigation.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp tweeted Tuesday that his family ‘prays for the victims of these heinous acts of violence. We appreciate the swift fear of a suspect ‘by the Georgia Department of Public Security, who oversees the state patrol,’ in cooperation. with local and federal law enforcement. ‘
Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock said in a video on Facebook that his delegates and state troops were notified Tuesday night that a murder suspect from North Georgia was on his way to their country. Delegates and troops lined up along the interstate and “made contact with the suspect,” he said.
A state trooper carried out a PIT, or a maneuver for intervention, that drove the vehicle out of control, ‘Hancock said. Long was then arrested and detained at Crisp County Jail for Cherokee County authorities, who are expected to arrive soon to continue their investigation.
Mary Morgan, who allegedly lives in a home where Long’s family residence resides, told The Washington Post the Longs “appear to be a good Christian family.”
“They went to church regularly, and I have never seen anything bad,” the 88-year-old reportedly said.
Authorities are expected to share more details during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, police departments in other parts of the country, including the NYPD in New York, say they are stepping up forces in Asian communities “out of an abundance of caution.” Seattle city officials also said they were taking “additional steps” to protect Asian residents.
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Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta issued a statement shortly after the news of the attacks, saying it was “shaken by the violence in our city that killed eight people, including members of the Asian American community”, according to 11 Alive reporters Choose her.
Stop AAPI Hate, a group that focuses on fighting hatred against Asians and Americans in the Pacific, called the series of shootings “an unspeakable tragedy – for the families of the victims in the first place, but also for the AAPI community – which was sweeping away high levels of racial discrimination. ‘
The group also noted in its tweets that so far it is unclear whether the attacks were racially motivated.
Fox News’ David Spunt and Brie Stimson contributed to this report, as did The Associated Press.
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