A man whose wife was shot dead during the Atlanta-area spa shootings last week said he was handcuffed and detained by local law enforcement during an investigation into the massacre.
“They had me at the police station for all that time until they investigated who was responsible or what had happened,” Mario Gonzalez told the Spanish-speaking news outlet Mundo Hispanico, adding that department personnel withheld information about the death of his wife, 33-year-old Delaina Ashley Yaun, until the end of the long ordeal.
“In the end, they told me my wife had died,” he said.
“They knew I was her husband,” Gonzalez added. “Then they told me she was dead when I wanted to know before.”
ATLANTA SPAS SHOOTER HAD SEX ADDICTION AND WANTED TO ‘ELIMINATE’ TEMPTATION, POLICE SAY
When asked why he was placed in shackles, Gonzalez pointed to his race as a factor.
“I don’t know, maybe because I’m Mexican,” he said. “Because the truth is that they treated me very badly.”
The Atlanta Police Department told the Washington Examiner this particular shooting incident is being handled by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and that law enforcement branch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested on Tuesday night after allegedly opening fire at three different salons, killing eight in the Atlanta-area. He’s suspected of killing at least four people and injuring another at the Young’s Asian Massage Parlor before gunning down four more at the Gold Spa and Aroma Therapy Spa, both of which were across the street from one another just south of Interstate 85.
Gonzalez and Yaun visited Young’s Asian Massage for a day of relaxation, and the pair were reportedly in two separate rooms when the gunfire erupted.
It was initially believed that Long targeted the Asian-owned businesses with a hate motive, but investigators said it was too early to determine if the shootings were race-related. They further added that Long may have been suffering from sexual addiction and that he may have frequented some of these places in the past.
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“The suspect did take responsibility for the shootings,” Capt. Jay Baker said. “He said that early on, once we began interviews with him. He claims that these — as the chief said, this is still early, but he does claim it was not racially motivated. He apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction, and sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places, and it’s a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate.”
