The Georgia State Patrol maneuvered a tactical PIT (target intervention technique) on a highway Tuesday night to stop the one suspect after three deadly shootings in and around Atlanta killed at least eight people and raised fears that the killings could be race-driven according to a report.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested without incident, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Long was apparently driving south on Interstate 75 in Crisp County when he was maneuvered out by state troops.
Investigators said they had just begun the investigation, but said the first shooting took place at about 5pm at Young’s Asian Massage in Ackworth, Cherokee County. Two victims were killed at the scene and three were transported to a hospital where two later died.
GEORGIA MASSAGE PARLORS MOVE INTO WAR ZONE IF POLICE REMOVE DEADLY SHOT
Less than an hour after the first shooting, police in the Buckhead neighborhood, northeast of Atlanta, responded to a call of a robbery in progress and found three women dead due to apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa.
While at the scene, police received a call of shots being fired at another spa across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, and found a woman who was apparently shot dead inside the business.
At least six of the eight victims were Asian women, authorities said. While officials have said it is too early to say whether race plays a role, the shooting comes at a time when anti-Asian crime is on the rise in the US.
At least four of the women were of Korean descent, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the Journal-Constitution, there have been only two homicide investigations in Cherokee County in the past two years.
Crisp County officials arrested Long at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, about 30 minutes after the county became aware of its location.
The PIT maneuver, which “caused the vehicle to go out of control,” according to Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock, is often used to end terminations.
Lung was arrested and charged with murder.
“It is likely that our suspect is the same as that of Cherokee County,” said Atlanta police spokesman Ao. John Chafee said based on video evidence of the three shooting incidents.
Police said videos of Long’s vehicle in the Atlanta spas showed the time of the attacks after his SUV was seen on the observation video, which stretched to the Acworth spa. Authorities in Atlanta and Cherokee County were confirming that the cases were related.
Gov. Brian Kemp tweeted that his “family is praying for the victims of these heinous acts of violence. We appreciate the swift fear of a suspect” by the Georgia Department of Public Safety, which oversees the state patrol, “in cooperation with the local people and federal law enforcement. ‘
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FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson said the agency was assisting Atlanta and Cherokee County authorities in the investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.