Atlanta Asian masseuse killer told police he suffered from ‘sex addiction’

The man accused of killing eight people at Atlanta-area massage parlors told police his act was not racially motivated and that he potentially had a “sex addiction.”authorities said on Wednesday.

Even like that, officials said they were investigating whether the deaths were hate crimes amid concerns over a wave of attacks on Asian Americans. Six of the victims were Asian and seven women.

The authorities did not say yes Robert Aaron Long, 21, never visited the rooms where the shooting took place. But they revealed that he was planning to travel to Florida in an attempt to attack “some kind of porn industry.”

“He hinted that he had potential problems with sex addiction and that he could have frequented several of these places in the past,” said the Cherokee County Sheriff, Frank reynolds.

Jay Baker of the Sheriff’s Office added that “The suspect took responsibility for the shooting.” and that it was too early to tell if he was motivated by race. “But at this moment everything indicates that I do not have them. Again, we believe he frequented these places in the past and possibly attacked them. “

US media reported that Long’s family live in a three-bedroom, one-story house in Woodstock, a predominantly white, middle-class suburb about 30 miles north of downtown Atlanta.

“They seem to be a good Christian family.”, said to The Washington Post Mary Morgan, 88, who lives across the street. “They went to church regularly and I never saw anything wrong with them.”

WAVE OF CRIMES AGAINST THE ASIAN COMMUNITY

Many suspects who commit mass shootings have a history of violence against women. Yet the attack plagued the members of the Asian-American community who saw the shooting as an attack on them, given a recent wave of assaults that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus in the United States. The virus was first identified in China, and then President Donald Trump and others have used terms such as “Chinese virus” to describe it.

“We are in a place where we have seen an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans since the start of the pandemic,” Said Georgia State Representative Bee Nguyen. “It’s hard to think it’s not specifically aimed at our community.”

The attacks began on Tuesday evening, when five people were gunned down in the massage parlor Asian massage for young people near Woodstock, about 50 kilometers north of Atlanta, said Cherokee County Sheriff’s spokesman Captain Jay Baker. Two people died at the scene and three were taken to a hospital where two diedBaker said.

About an hour later, police who responded to a theft call were found Three women apparently shot dead at Gold Spa near Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, where tattoo parlors and strip clubs are a few blocks from mansions and skyscrapers in one of the last unspoiled redoubts. in this part of town. Officers later learned that a call reported gunshots across the street in Aromatherapy spa, and found another woman apparently shot.

The Long recorded surveillance video arrived at the Cherokee County company about 10 minutes before the attack there, and the same car was seen outside Atlanta businesses, authorities said. A manhunt broke out and Long was taken into custody in Crisp County, about 240 kilometers south of Atlanta, Baker said.

Video proof “Suggests our suspect is most likely the same as the one from Cherokee County who is in custodyAtlanta police said in a statement.

The White House press secretary, Jen psakisaid the president Joe biden was briefed on the ‘terrible shootings’ and will receive an update later Wednesday from the Attorney General Merrick garland and the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray.

Atlanta Police Chief, Rodney bryant, warned that it was too early to tell if the attack was a hate crime. Over the past year, thousands of incidents of abuse have been reported to an anti-hate group that tracks incidents against Asian Americans, and hate crimes overall are at the highest level. for over a decade.

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday that his diplomats in Atlanta had confirmed to police that four of the deceased victims were women of Korean descent. The ministry said its consulate general in Atlanta was trying to confirm the nationality of women.

The spokesperson for the FBI, Kevin rowson, said the agency was assisting authorities in Atlanta and Cherokee County with the investigation.

The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony blink, who is in South Korea to meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chung Eui-yong, mentioned the murders in an opening statement.

“We are horrified by this violence that is not taking place in the United States or elsewhere.”, He said.

“Our whole family is praying for the victims of these horrific acts of violence”, Governor Brian Kemp said Tuesday night on Twitter.

(With information from AFP)

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