Suspected Atlanta gunman Robert Aaron Long had been to spas before
The alleged gunman who shot up three Atlanta-area spas — killing eight people. including six Asian women — “may have frequented” some of the locations and had a “sex addiction,” it was revealed Wednesday.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, did not indicate in an interview with investigators that the shooting spree Tuesday was racially motivated — instead suggesting that he chose salons that he was familiar with, authorities said during a press briefing, according to WSB-TV.
“We were able to interview him with the Atlanta police department and the FBI,” said Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds. “He made indicators that he has some issues, potentially sexual addiction, and may have frequented some of these places in the past.”
Police, however, said they’re still not ruling out the possibility that it was a hate crime.
Long, of Woodstock, was arrested in connection to the shootings that began Tuesday evening at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, authorities said.
Five people were shot at the spa, four of whom later died, officials said.
About an hour later, police found three women dead from apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa near the Buckhead suburb of Atlanta.
While officers responded to the scene, they received a call across the street at Aromatherapy Spa and found another woman shot dead, authorities said.
The violence was the latest in a wave of attacks against Asian Americans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Post wires
