come to the u.s. amid the growing crisis of children at the border. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, we have reports this morning from seoul, the pentagon, capitol hill and rome. this is early start, i m christine romans. and i m laura jarrett. it s wednesday, march 17th, it s 5:00 a.m. in new york and we start this morning with the big breaking news. a suspect is in custody after eight people were killed in shootings at three massage parlours in the atlanta area. now, authorities have not offered a motive yet, but at least six of the victims were asian in about the span of an hour eight people were killed at those three atlanta area spas spread across three miles. the attacks took place in quick secession, the fbi is assisting authorities in atlanta and cherokee county. here is a spokesperson for the chairy county s office. it s pretty unusual. as i mentioned earlier, in 2020 we had one homicide in cherokee county, we have had at leas
eight people are dead and one suspect is in custody after shootings at three metro area massage parlors. four of the victims are of korean ethnicity. we heard numerous gunshots coming from across the street. police are investigating the theory that all the cases are connected. average new covid case counts are rising in as many states as they are falling. we are just starting to turn the corner and where this goes depends on us protecting ourselves and others. we re asking for another wave. this is new day with alisyn camerota and john berman. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. this is new day, it s wednesday, march 17th, 6:00. erica hill is with me. we have details of new shootings at atlanta massage parlors that led eight people dead and this has led to increased security across the country. one suspect, 21-year-old robert aaron long is in custody. police say it s extremely likely that one person did carry out all of thes
this is new day with alisyn camerota and john berman. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. this is new day. erica hill is with me this morning. developing overnight, security increased in cities across the country. new concerns of anti-asian crime after a deadly murder spree near atlanta targeting the massage parlors. at least eight people killed. according to the atlanta journal constitution, six of them were asian women. a suspect, 26-year-old robert aaron long is in custody and police are not talking about a motive but the concern that these shootings could be racially motivated is real. ryan young is in atlanta with the late-breaking details for us. good morning. reporter: erica, just a devastating attack. leaving a lot of people in the community asking why. you can see one of the massage parlors across the street here and this was surrounded by police for hours and we re waiting to hear what the motive was. a shooting rampag
country as police investigate what may have motivated these murders. anti-asian attacks and hate crimes have been rising sharply since the pandemic hit. let s get the latest from ryan young live this morning in atlanta. good morning. good morning. eight people killed. that s a number that so many people are astonished by. we know police were able to use surveillance video which tied all these scenes together. it s an investigation that still is ongoing. a shooting rampage at three spas in the atlanta metro area tuesday leaving eight people dead and one wounded. police apprehending one suspect. 21-year-old robert aaron long of woodstock, georgia. video evidence suggests it s extremely likely the same person is responsible for all three shootings. georgia state patrol troopers performed a pit maneuver which caused the vehicle to spin out of control. he was taken into custody without incident. reporter: the first shooting took place outside of atlanta at young s asian mass
investigators say robert aaron long gunned down people in a spa in cherokee county. investigators say long travelled less than an hour south to atlanta and shot and killed two more people at massage businesses across the street from each other. today the sheriff s department said long is talking to investigators and telling them a sexual addiction drove him to violence. it s still early but the indicators right now are it may not be, it may be targets of opportunity. again, we re we believe that he frequented these places in the past and may have been lashing out, and part of that in your media packet as well. but it s a sexual addiction rather than a racial profiling? during our interviews we asked that specific question and that did not appear to be the motive. cnn s natasha chen is in atlanta. officials say the gunman was headed to florida when arrested and his family was critical in the arrest. reporter: yeah, the family of the suspect was critical in helping