Eight people, mostly women of Asian descent, were killed in a shooting spree in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Authorities said two shooting incidents happened at two massage parlours in Atlanta and one in the suburban area. A 21-year-old man was taken into custody in southwest Georgia hours later after a manhunt, they added.
Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said three people were killed at a spa in northeast Atlanta, while a fourth was killed at another spa across the street. All the victims were female, and it appears that they may be Asian, he continued.
Atlanta police officers responding to a call of a robbery in progress at one spa around 5:50 pm found three women dead from apparent gunshot wounds, police said. While they were at that scene, they learned of a call reporting shots fired at another spa across the street and found a woman who appeared to have been shot dead inside the business.
Earlier, around 5 pm, five people were shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlour in Acworth, about 50 kilometers north of Atlanta, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt Jay Baker said.
Two of the victims were dead and three were taken to a hospital where two of them also died, Baker said.
Authorities were not immediately releasing the gender or race of the victims, Baker said.
A man suspected in the Acworth shooting was captured after examining a CCTV video.
Baker said the suspect, Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock, was taken into custody in Crisp County, about 240 kilometers south of Atlanta.
Baker said they believe Long is also the suspect in the Atlanta shootings.
