Eight killed in Atlanta-area shooting rampage; suspect arrested

[webfact]

Crime scene tape is seen outside Aromatherapy Spa after shootings at a massage parlor and two day spas in the Atlanta area, in Georgia, U.S. March 16, 2021. REUTERS/Chris Aluka Berry

By Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman

(Reuters) - Eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, were shot dead at a massage parlor and two day spas in the Atlanta area on Tuesday, and a man suspected of carrying out all of the attacks was arrested hours later in southern Georgia, police said.

The rampage began at about 5 p.m. local time when four victims were killed and another was wounded in a shooting at Young's Asian Massage in Cherokee County, about 40 miles north of Atlanta, said Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department.

Two women of Asian descent were among the dead there, along with a white woman and a white man, Baker said, adding that the surviving victim was an Hispanic man.

In Atlanta, the state capital, police officers responding to a call of a "robbery in progress" shortly before 6 p.m. arrived at a beauty spa to find three women shot dead, Police Chief Rodney Bryant told reporters.

While investigating the initial shooting report, the officers were called to a second spa across the street where a fourth woman was found dead of a gunshot wound, Bryant said. All four victims slain in Atlanta were of Asian descent.

Robert Aaron Long, 21, of Woodstock in Cherokee County, was taken into custody at about 8:30 p.m. in Crisp County, about 150 miles (240 km) south of Atlanta.

Baker said investigators were "very confident" that the same suspect was the gunman in all three shootings. Long was spotted in southern Georgia, far from the crime scenes, after police in Cherokee County issued an all-points bulletin providing a description and license plates of the getaway vehicle.

Long was arrested without incident after a highway pursuit by Georgia state police and Crisp County Sheriff's deputies, who used a tactical driving maneuver to bring the suspect's vehicle to a halt, sheriff's officials said later.

Authorities did not offer a possible motive for the shooting rampage, and said they did not immediately know if the victims were targeted because of their race or ethnicity.

A spokesman for the Atlanta field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said the agency was assisting police in Cherokee County and Atlanta.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta in Vista, Calif., and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler, Lincoln Feast and Michael Perry)

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-17

 

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[Surelynot]

With everyone allowed to buy a gun and no restrictions on carrying one....... America would be so much safer.

[mtls2005]

Amazing that some alleged perpetrators of violent, armed activity are taken into custody casually. Unharmed. Maybe they stop off at Burger King to provide sustenance for the poor man? He'll be said to be "troubled".

 

I wonder what the difference could be?

 

 

[Surelynot]

Odd....report does not tells us his nationality, race or religion.......may be they don't know yet....he was white though!!!

[Yellowtail]

7 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

With everyone allowed to buy a gun and no restrictions on carrying one....... America would be so much safer.

Yes, with everyone allowed to buy gasoline and pop-bottles....

 

[Tug]

A real pos imo.my wife is afraid to go out without me I’ve seen some (looks) but nothing overt yet.just ugly a bad deal my compassion and condolences to the bereaved and I hope that dude rots in prison with lots of (unpleasant)company 

[mtls2005]

3 minutes ago, Tug said:

I hope that dude rots in prison with lots of (unpleasant)company 

 

Meh. The Aryan Gang (in prison) will welcome him as a hero.

[Tug]

1 minute ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Meh. The Aryan Gang (in prison) will welcome him as a hero.

Perhaps but someone will get to him most conns don’t like lady killers 

[Jingthing]

19 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

Odd....report does not tells us his nationality, race or religion.......may be they don't know yet....he was white though!!!

You're joking right?

[JonnyF]

25 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

Odd....report does not tells us his nationality, race or religion.......may be they don't know yet....he was white though!!!

So what? Would you be shouting from the rooftops if he was black ?

[ezzra]

So was he someone who was expecting Happy ending and didn't like what he got? in any case this an abhorrent act of disregards for human life anyway you look at it...

[ThailandRyan]

This will make all the National headlines and be discussed on the National news stations as there has been a recent uptick of violence against Asian's.  Just read an article from the US regarding this exact thing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/25/asian-hate-crime-attack-patrol/?arc404=true

[xylophone]

Just what is it with these straggly, unkempt and ugly beards?

Is it some sort of recognition of belonging to Confederates, or the deep South or whatever?

I did see quite a few of them in the attack on the Capitol a while back – – part of a cult perhaps?

 

 

 

 

[herfiehandbag]

13 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

 

So anytime someone of one race kills someone of another race are we to assume the murder is rascally motivated or do we only assume that when the killer is white?

 

No, but when he kills six from one particular race it is not an unreasonable conclusion to at least consider!

[Chomper Higgot]

28 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Why would one assume a shooting in a brothel was racially motivated? 

So the white supremist couldn't find any black hookers to shoot he had to resort to Asians?

I'm betting he was a customer...

Let me help you out.

 

This from the OP:

“Authorities did not offer a possible motive for the shooting rampage, and said they did not immediately know if the victims were targeted because of their race or ethnicity.”

Perhaps you need to address your own assumptions before kicking-off about stuff others haven’t said.

[mtls2005]

37 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

So anytime someone of one race kills someone of another race are we to assume the murder is rascally motivated or do we only assume that when the killer is white?

 

Wow, that's quite the leap from this man who seems to have targetted multiple Asian women, to "...anytime someone of one race kills someone of another race are we to assume the murder...".

 

So to answer your obvious deflection, "No", and "No".

 

Whether they're a rascal or not.

 

 

 

[expatjustice]

So where are all those genius farangs from this forum that constantly bash Thai men for their ego, and being cowards, and blah blah…. 
 

Cuz not being racist, but as a European, it seems to me that there is nothing more snowflake coward in the entire world that a white American kid with a couple of rifles and guns bought with moms money ????

 

US Cops would pull their gun out and threaten to “f***king kill you” for literally every single little reason you could think of. Yet they always manage to capture scumbags like this one alive. Somethings I’ll never understand…

[lopburi3]

Quote

“Pizza, guns, drums, music, family, and God. This pretty much sums up my life. It’s a pretty good life,” a tagline for the account said.

https://heavy.com/news/robert-aaron-long/

https://www.thedailybeast.com/seven-killed-in-shootings-at-atlanta-spas

 

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by lopburi3

[John Drake]

1 hour ago, mtls2005 said:

 

 

 

Is he Amish?

[ballpoint]

3 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

No, all were NOT Asians.  Which kind of invalidates your whole post.

 

That was in the first place he attacked, outside Atlanta, which happens to be called "Young's Asian Massage".  He then killed four more women - all Asian, in two other spas in Atlanta.  This wasn't a spur of the moment attack on one massage parlour by a disgruntled customer.  Six of the eight victims were Asian, and the first place has a decidedly Asian name.  I'm sure the police will be including the possibility of it's being race related in their investigations.

[stevenl]

16 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

No, all were NOT Asians.  Which kind of invalidates your whole post.

 

Your meaning is completely different from the facts. I presume you mean 'not all were Asians'.

That would be true, but with 6 of the 8 being Asians, and the last 4 killed being Asians, it really looks like Asians were the target.

Edited March 17, 2021 by stevenl

[JonnyF]

2 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

That was in the first place he attacked, outside Atlanta, which happens to be called "Young's Asian Massage".  He then killed four more women - all Asian, in two other spas in Atlanta.  This wasn't a spur of the moment attack on one massage parlour by a disgruntled customer.  Six of the eight victims were Asian, and the first place has a decidedly Asian name.  I'm sure the police will be including the possibility of it's being race related in their investigations.

Jeffr2's claim that all his victims are Asian is factually incorrect. 

Race is one possibility. Or maybe he hates sex workers? Maybe he caught HIV in there? Maybe one or more of the workers is an ex girlfriend? Many the massage parlours have a common owner who he has beef with and is one of the victims?

There are many potential motivational factors for such an attack. I'm not ruling out race, but it's a bit early to conclude this is a racially motivated attack like Jeffr2 did, especially when he also killed 2 Whites and shot a Mexican during the same rampage. 

 

[JonnyF]

6 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Your meaning is completely different from the facts. I presume you mean 'not all were Asians'.

That would be true, but with 6 of the 8 being Asians, and the last 4 killed being Asians, it really looks like Asians were the target.

Yes. the poster said all were Asians but actually 3 were not Asian, so I said 'No, all were NOT Asians'. As a standalone comment you could argue that was confusing if you were being pedantic, but bearing in mind the comment I was replying to and that my quote included the fact that 2 Asians were killed in the first attack, I think it's pretty obvious what I meant.

It appears that at least 6 of the 8 were involved in the sex trade. So sex workers being the target would be an equally valid conclusion at this stage.

Let's wait and see. Better not to jump to conclusions especially in the current climate of race baiting, rioting etc.

[stevenl]

3 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Yes. the poster said all were Asians but actually 3 were not Asian, so I said 'No, all were NOT Asians'. As a standalone comment you could argue that was confusing if you were being pedantic, <snip>

Nothing to do with being pedantic. You correct someone, rightfully so, with an incorrect statement. Also yours was simply incorrect. 'Not all were Asians' would have been correct.

[EVENKEEL]

Here's a novel idea, let him have a fair trial before you hang him.

[RichardColeman]

Thankfully Georgia I think still has the death penalty - unless Biden changes it

[Jingthing]

Just now, RichardColeman said:

Thankfully Georgia I think still has the death penalty - unless Biden changes it

Presidents don't have that power.

[CharlieH]

A number of unsubstantiated, off topic, troll comments and responses to them have all been removed.

Lets try with a new focus NOT to introduce "Trump" into every topic can we.

 

[Old Croc]

Asian massage workers - Thai?

[JonnyF]

28 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Nothing to do with being pedantic. You correct someone, rightfully so, with an incorrect statement. Also yours was simply incorrect. 'Not all were Asians' would have been correct.

Context. The CAPS should have given it away if it all got too confusing for you.