Atlanta Police Chief: Too Early To Determine If Massage Parlor Shootings That Left 8 Dead A Hate Crime
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta Police Department Chief Rodney Bryant and other officials during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Lisa Hagen / WABE
Georgia officials say it’s too early to determine whether the shooting that left eight dead at massage parlors in the Atlanta area was a hate crime.
The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock, Georgia, was questioned by officials and authorities said he had frequented parlors in the past and may have a potential “sex addiction.” But officials wouldn’t say whether the parlors where the shootings occurred were places where sex took place.
Long is accused in a series of shootings over nearly an hour at three Atlanta-area massage parlors that left eight people dead and raised fears that the attack was another hate crime against Asian Americans. Officials say he has admitted to the shootings but said they were not racially motivated.
They are still investigating.
The attacks began Tuesday evening when five people were shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor near Woodstock, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Atlanta. Two people died at the scene, and three were taken to a hospital where two died.
Long was expected to be arraigned Thursday.
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