Atlanta Massage Parlor Shooting Suspect May Have 'Sexual Addiction:' Police
Published Date: 3/17/2021
Source: Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
Georgia officials said Wednesday that the suspect in a series of shootings at Atlanta-area massage parlors that left eight people dead may have a “sexual addiction” and that it was too early to say if the attack was a hate crime. Police arrested a white 21-year-old Georgia man who they say has taken responsibility for the shootings, while denying they were racially motivated, though many of the victims were women of Asian descent. Instead, officials told reporters that Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock, said he was a frequent visitor of massage parlors and intended to eliminate the temptation he thought they posed. But officials wouldn’t say whether the parlors where the shootings occurred were places where sex took place. He was on his way to Florida and intended to commit similar crimes there, they said. Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant cautioned that it was too early to say if it was hate crime. But many members of the Asian American community said they felt they had been targeted. “We’re in a place where we’ve seen an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans since the pandemic started,” said Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen. “It’s hard to think it is not targeted specifically toward our community.” The attacks began Tuesday evening, when five people were shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor near Woodstock, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Atlanta, Cherokee County Sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Jay Baker said. Two people died at the scene, and three were taken to a hospital where two died, Baker said. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake