Police: Georgia capturing suspect could have “sexual addiction”

Georgia officers mentioned Wednesday that the suspect in a sequence of shootings at Atlanta-area therapeutic massage parlours that left eight individuals lifeless could have a “sexual addiction” and that it was too early to say if the assault was a hate crime.
Police arrested a white 21-year-old Georgia man who they are saying has taken accountability for the shootings, whereas denying they had been racially motivated, although lots of the victims had been girls of Asian descent.
Instead, officers instructed reporters that Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock, mentioned he was a frequent customer of therapeutic massage parlours and meant to remove the temptation he thought they posed.

But officers wouldn’t say whether or not the parlours the place the shootings occurred had been locations the place intercourse befell.
He was on his method to Florida and meant to commit comparable crimes there, they mentioned.
Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant cautioned that it was too early to say if it was hate crime. But many members of the Asian American neighborhood mentioned they felt that they had been focused.
“We’re in a place where we’ve seen an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans since the pandemic started,” mentioned Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen. “It’s hard to think it is not targeted specifically toward our community.”
The assaults started Tuesday night, when 5 individuals had been shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlour close to Woodstock, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Atlanta, Cherokee County Sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Jay Baker mentioned. Two individuals died on the scene, and three had been taken to a hospital the place two died, Baker mentioned.
About an hour later, police responding to a name a few theft discovered three girls lifeless from obvious gunshot wounds at Gold Spa close to Atlanta’s Buckhead space, the place tattoo parlors and strip golf equipment are simply blocks away from mansions and skyscrapers in one of many final ungentrified holdouts in that a part of town.
Officers then realized of a name reporting pictures fired throughout the road, at Aromatherapy Spa, and located one other girl apparently shot lifeless.
“It appears that they may be Asian,” Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant mentioned.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki mentioned President Joe Biden has been briefed on the “horrific shootings” and would obtain an replace later Wednesday from Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Little is thought in regards to the suspect, Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock, and authorities haven’t specified costs.
While the motive for the assault additionally remained unclear, many members of the Asian American neighborhood noticed the shootings as an assault on them, given a current wave of assaults that coincided with the unfold of the coronavirus throughout the United States.
The virus was first recognized in China, and then-President Donald Trump and others have used racially charged phrases like “Chinese virus” to explain it.
Over the previous yr, 1000’s of incidents of abuse have been reported to an anti-hate group that tracks incidents in opposition to Asian Americans, and hate crimes generally are on the highest degree in additional than a decade.
“We are heartbroken by these acts of violence,” Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta mentioned in a press release.
“While the details of the shootings are still emerging, the broader context cannot be ignored. The shootings happened under the trauma of increasing violence against Asian Americans nationwide, fueled by white supremacy and systemic racism.”
Police in Atlanta and different main cities deplored the killings, and a few mentioned they’d enhance patrols in Asian American communities. Seattle’s mayor mentioned “the violence in Atlanta was an act of hate,” and San Francisco police tweeted #CeaseAsianHate. The New York City Police counterterrorism unit mentioned it was on alert for comparable assaults.
Other civil liberties teams and distinguished Americans additionally expressed their dismay. The Rev. Bernice King, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., mentioned she’s “deeply saddened that we live in a nation and world permeated by hate and violence. I stand with Asian members of our World House, who are a part of our global human family.”
Former President Barack Obama regretted that “even as we’ve battled the pandemic, we’ve continued to neglect the longer-lasting epidemic of gun violence in America.”
While acknowledging that the shooter’s motive was not identified, he mentioned “the identity of the victims underscores an alarming rise in anti-Asian violence that must end.”
Surveillance video recorded a person pulling as much as the Cherokee County enterprise about 10 minutes earlier than the assault there, and the identical automobile was noticed exterior the Atlanta companies, authorities mentioned.
A manhunt was launched, and Long was taken into custody in Crisp County, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) south of Atlanta, Baker mentioned.
Video proof “suggests it is extremely likely our suspect is the same as Cherokee County’s, who is in custody,” Atlanta police mentioned in a press release.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry mentioned in assertion Wednesday that its diplomats in Atlanta have confirmed with police that 4 of the victims who died had been girls of Korean descent. The ministry mentioned its Consulate General in Atlanta is attempting to substantiate the nationality of the ladies.
FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson mentioned the company is helping Atlanta and Cherokee County authorities within the investigation. (AP)