The man accused of killing eight people at three different Atlanta-area spas may have been a sex addict, and his role as the alleged perpetrator may not have been racially motivated.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested on Tuesday night after allegedly opening fire at three different salons, killing eight. He’s suspected of killing at least four people and injuring another at the Young’s Asian Massage Parlor before allegedly killing four more at the Gold Spa and Aroma Therapy Spa, both of which were across the street from one another just south of Interstate Highway 85.
During a press conference on Wednesday, law enforcement officers said it was too early to determine if the shootings were a hate crime and said that Long may have been suffering from sexual addiction. Law enforcement revealed that he may have frequented some of these places in the past.
Capt. Jay Baker said Long admitted to the shooting and that during the interrogation, he claimed the attack was not racially motivated.
“The suspect did take responsibility for the shootings,” 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.”
There has been speculation that the shooting was an anti-Asian hate crime given six of the eight victims appear to be of Asian descent. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been an increase in hate crimes against the Asian American community.
Baker said a firearm was recovered from Long’s vehicle when he was arrested. He also said that the suspect did not invoke any political or religious beliefs as the impetus for the alleged attack.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who also spoke at the press conference, said Long was supposedly on his way to Florida to “perhaps carry out additional shootings.”
Bottoms added that police were unaware as to whether someone could have a sexual encounter at any of the spas where the shootings occurred.
“We are not about to get into victim-blaming, victim-shaming here,” she said. “As far as we know in Atlanta, we have not had any calls, 911 calls, from that location. I believe one minor call on someone stealing some keys. So, we don’t know additional information about what his motives were, but we certainly will not begin to blame victims. As far as we know in Atlanta, these are legally operating businesses that have not been on our radar, not on the radar of APD.”
Long bought a firearm from Big Woods Goods in Holly Springs, Georgia, and the store is cooperating with law enforcement, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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In a video posted to the Crisp County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page, Sheriff Frank Reynolds announced that the agency and highway patrol were alerted that Long was headed to their county. Georgia state patrol troopers performed a “PIT maneuver” around 8 p.m., which caused Long’s vehicle to “spin out of control.” Reynolds added that he was taken into custody “without incident.”
