Brutal Shooting In Atlanta, Eight People Killed, Six Of Them Are Women Of Asian Descent

Ilustrasi. (Unsplash / Jacob Morch)

JAKARTA - Eight people, six of them women of Asian descent were shot dead in a series of spa attacks in Atlanta, United States, on Tuesday, March 16 local time.

The shooting began at around 5 p.m. local time, when four people were killed and one injured in a shooting at Young's Asian Massage, Cherokee, Georgia, Atlanta.

"Two women of Asian descent were among those killed there, along with a white woman and a white man. Meanwhile, the surviving victim was a Hispanic man", Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee Sheriff's Department, Georgia told Reuters.

In Atlanta, the state capital, police officers receive a robbery call in progress, shortly before 6 p.m. Arriving at the Gold Spa beauty salon, the police found three women shot dead.

"While investigating the initial shooting reports, officers were summoned from the spa across the street from the first location, where a fourth woman was found dead from gunshot wounds. The four victims killed in Atlanta were of Asian descent", said Police Chief Rodney Bryant.

Police moved quickly to distribute descriptions and license plates of the vehicles involved in the attack, to then successfully secure the Woodstock, Cherokee-based Robert Aaron Long at around 8:30 p.m. in Crisp County, about 240 kilometers south of Atlanta.

He was arrested without a fight, after a highway chase by Georgia state police and Crisp County Sheriff's deputies, who used tactical maneuvers to stop the suspect's vehicle.

Baker told Reuters by telephone that investigators firmly believed the same suspect was the gunman in all three shootings. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Police Department said the suspect was linked to all of the attacks with video evidence from the crime scene.

However, investigators are still working to confirm the shootings in Atlanta and Cherokee County were connected. The authorities have also not determined the motive for the shooting, as well as whether the victim was the target of racism.

To note, the violence in Georgia comes just days after US President Joe Biden condemned a nationwide surge in hate crimes and discrimination against Asian-Americans.

"This will be very disturbing, especially if it is related to anti-Asian factors and the causes of COVID-19", said eyewitness Gregory Welch who lives in the area, as reported by the New York Times.

Civil rights groups have previously accused former President Donald Trump of contributing to the hatred and discrimination of Asian-Americans, by repeatedly calling the coronavirus the 'Chinese virus', because it first emerged in China.