ATLANTA At least eight people were killed Tuesday after shootings at three spas in the Atlanta area, authorities said.
Update 8:52 p.m. EDT March 18: Robert Aaron Long, 21, of Woodstock, the suspected gunman in the Cherokee County massage parlor shooting, was caught following a chase in Crisp County, WSB reported. Crisp County is located about 175 miles south of Acworth.
Officials in Cherokee County have updated the death toll to four, bringing the overall total from all three shootings to eight.
Original report: At a news conference, Atlanta police Chief Rodney Bryant confirmed that the four victims at the northeast Atlanta spas were women and appeared to be Asian.
8 killed in shootings at 3 Atlanta-area spas, one suspect in custody Jordan Freiman
Eight people were killed Tuesday in shootings at three Atlanta-area spas. A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with one of the shootings, and Atlanta police said it is extremely likely he is also the suspect in the other two shootings.
At around 5 p.m., a shooting at Young s Asian Massage in Cherokee County killed four people, two of whom died after being transported to a hospital, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff s office. A fifth victim was injured and also transported to a hospital.
Later, three people were shot and killed at Gold Spa on Piedmont Road in Atlanta. While officers were responding to the scene, they received another call for a shooting across the street at Aromatherapy Spa, where they found another person who had been shot and killed.
8 killed in shootings at 3 Atlanta-area spas, one suspect in custody Jordan Freiman
Eight people were killed Tuesday in shootings at three Atlanta-area spas. A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with one of the shootings, and Atlanta police said it is extremely likely he is also the suspect in the other two shootings.
At around 5 p.m., a shooting at Young s Asian Massage in Cherokee County killed four people, two of whom died after being transported to a hospital, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff s office. A fifth victim was injured and also transported to a hospital.
Later, three people were shot and killed at Gold Spa on Piedmont Road in Atlanta. While officers were responding to the scene, they received another call for a shooting across the street at Aromatherapy Spa, where they found another person who had been shot and killed.
The victims included six Asian women. Five people were first shot, with two declared dead at the scene and three taken to the hospital with injuries. Two of those injured later died at the hospital, according to the sheriff’s office. Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a Hispanic man was also injured in the shooting and was rushed to a hospital for medical treatment. Four more people were killed later.
Robert Aaron Long (Cherokee County Sheriff)
What happened at Gold Massage Spa?
At about 5 pm, Long first entered Young’s Asian Massage Parlor in Woodstock, an Atlanta suburb along Georgia Highway 92 and opened fire at five people, killing four. He then drove to Gold Spa and Aroma Therapy, killing four more people. A police chase followed and he was taken into custody in Crisp County 200 miles away.
The suspect is linked to at least one of the shootings and police say it is "extremely likely" he is also the suspect in the other two shootings.