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Agence France-Presse

A 21-year-old man identified as Robert Aaron Long has been arrested on suspicion of killing eight people, including six Asian women, in shootings at three Atlanta-area massage parlours.
Here is what is known about Long so far.
Motive not racial, he says
Long has taken responsibility for the shootings “but he does claim it was not racially motivated,” said Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s office.
Long told authorities he has a sex addiction problem and sees massage parlours as “a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate,” Baker said.


Baker himself came under criticism for saying Long had a “bad day”.
“He was pretty much fed up and kind of end of his rope and yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did,” Baker said during a news conference.
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US President Joe Biden said US investigators haven’t yet linked the shootings to a hate crime. But he decried the “brutality against Asian-Americans for the last couple months”.
However, shootings appear to be at the “intersection of gender-based violence, misogyny and xenophobia,” said state lawmaker Bee Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American to serve in the Georgia House and a frequent advocate for women and communities of colour.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said that regardless of the alleged gunman’s motivation, “it is unacceptable, it is hateful and it has to stop”.


Short manhunt
Surveillance footage released by police shows Long, wearing glasses and a red and navy blue hoodie, getting into a Hyundai Tucson car near one of the crime scenes.
Long was apprehended about 240km (150 miles) south of Atlanta several hours after the shootings.
When he was caught Long was on his way to Florida, perhaps to carry out more shootings targeting “some type of porn industry,” Baker said.
Joe Biden condemns ‘vicious’ attacks on Asian-Americans
It was Long’s parents who contacted police after his photo was released Tuesday announcing he was a suspect and they helped identify him.
Authorities have charged Long with four counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault in the first of the three shootings, which took place in a suburb north of Atlanta, US media reported.
Additionally, Atlanta police said they have charged Long with four counts of murder in the subsequent attacks at two spas in the city.
Long was set to be arraigned Thursday morning, US time.

Pizza, guns and God
“Pizza, guns, drums, music, family, and God. This pretty much sums up my life. It’s a pretty good life,” read the tagline on an Instagram account that appeared to belong to Long, The Daily Beast reported. The account has since been deleted.
A student who graduated from the same high school as Long in 2017 told The Daily Beast that Long was “a hunter”.
In a photo released by the authorities, Long is seen wearing a baseball cap emblazoned with the words “Matthews Archery” – a company that specialises in crossbows.
‘I was saved’
“He was very innocent seeming and wouldn’t even cuss. He was sorta nerdy and didn’t seem violent from what I remember,” the former classmate told The Daily Beast.
Long’s father was a youth minister or pastor, and Long was “big into religion,” this person said.
Long was deeply involved with Crabapple First Baptist Church, which he attended with his parents and younger sister, according to the news website Heavy.
In a 2018 Facebook post that has since been deleted, Long described how he was baptised for a second time that year.
He said he was first christened in grade school but strayed from his faith and re-embraced it when he studied the biblical story of the prodigal son.
“So that’s when I was saved,” Long wrote.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


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Sex addict or racist? What we know about Atlanta shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long

Robert Aaron Long after he was taken into custody. Photo: Reuters

ACWORTH, GA - MARCH 17: Flowers and a sign reading "Stop Asian Hate" are seen outside a massage parlor where four people were shot and killed on March 17, 2021 in Acworth, Georgia. Suspect Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested after a series of shootings at three Atlanta-area spas left eight people dead on Tuesday night, including six Asian women. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

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Video from a surveillance camera captured the January 31 attack on an elderly man in Oakland Chinatown. Photo: Twitter

Tracy Wong takes part in a rally near Chinatown in Los Angeles to raise awareness of anti-Asian violence. File photo: AFP

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US President Joe Biden addressed the shootings in the Atlanta, Georgia, area just ahead of a virtual meeting on Wednesday with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin. Photo: AP

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks at a press conference on March 17, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. Suspect Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested after a series of shootings at three Atlanta-area spas left eight people dead on Tuesday night, including six Asian women. (Megan Varner/Getty Images/TNS)

Robert Aaron Long. (Courtesy Cherokee County Sheriff's Office/TNS)

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Robert Aaron Long charged with killing eight people, including six Asian women, at Georgia massage parlours
Police said shooting suspect told them he targeted spas because of a sexual addiction, motive not racial



Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested on suspicion of killing eight people, including six Asian women, in shootings at three Atlanta-area massage parlours.


United States

Racism and other prejudice