Summary Statement

On March 16, 2021, a lone offender equipped with a 9mm handgun carried out a series of mass shootings at three separate massage parlors/spas in Cherokee County and Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, killing eight and wounding one.

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4:50 p.m.: A man investigators believe was Robert Aaron Long pulled up to Young’s Asian Massage Parlor near Acworth in a dark-colored Hyundai SUV, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. Surveillance cameras captured the man going into the business, located near the intersection of Bells Ferry Road and Ga. 92. Inside the business, deputies found five victims with gunshot wounds, two declared dead at the scene and three taken to the hospital where two eventually died. Cameras then captured the same man leaving the business.

5:47 p.m.: About 30 miles away, Atlanta officers were called to a report of a robbery at The Gold Massage Spa, located at 1916 Piedmont Road. Inside, officers found three women dead from gunshot wounds, according to Sgt. John Chafee. While investigating that incident, officers were told shots were fired across the street at the Aroma Therapy Spa. There, investigators found another woman shot to death. At a press conference, within two hours of the shootings, Interim Chief Rodney Bryant said Atlanta officers were working with Cherokee investigators to determine if the incidents were related.

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8 p.m.: Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds alerted law enforcement in central Georgia that the suspect was believed to be traveling south on I-75. About 150 miles south of Atlanta, the 2007 black Hyundai Tucson was spotted by Crisp County sheriff’s deputies and the Georgia State Patrol. State troopers performed a PIT maneuver to stop the SUV. (The Precision Immobilization Technique, as it’s officially known, is an intentional wrecking of a car being chased; it is sometimes employed by authorities pursuing a suspect who won’t stop). The driver, Long, was arrested and booked into the Crisp County Detention Center.

According to open source reporting, Long was charged with four counts of murder and one count of assault. Though the victims of the attack were predominately Asian women, according to local law enforcement authorities, the alleged perpetrator claimed race did not play a role in his target selection and he was driven instead by sexually motivated grievances.

Sources

• Spa Killing Spree Leaves 8 Dead In Metro Atlanta: Suspect Captured: Atlanta 11Alive
• Suspect In Custody After Deadly Atlanta Shootings: Yahoo News
• 6 of 8 Killed In Atlanta Shooting Spree Are Asian Women: New York 4 NBC
• Georgia Spa Shootings: Suspect Charged With 8 Counts Of Murder: The Sacramento Bee