» Spas had been targeted by prostitution stings.
ATLANTA — Two Atlantaarea massage businesses where a gunman waged a deadly assault this week had been repeatedly targeted in police prostitution investigations over the years, raising questions about the mayor’s earlier comments that the spas operated legally.
Police records show officers went to the businesses at least 21 times of the past 10 years, which appears to contradict Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ statement that officers in her city had not been to the businesses beyond a minor potential theft and they were not “on the radar” of police. Bottoms added that she did not want to blame the victims.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, is charged with killing four women at the Atlanta spas and four other people inside a massage business 30 miles away in Cherokee County. Long, who is white, told investigators the attacks were not racially motivated and claimed to have a sex addiction, which caused him to lash out at what he saw as sources of temptation.
Police in both Atlanta and Cherokee County said they were investigating if the killings could be considered hate crimes. Seven of the victims were women — six of Asian descent — and the gunman targeted the massage businesses despite a strip club and lingerie stores nearby.
Police records released by the city Friday show 12 people were arrested at the two Atlanta massage businesses on prostitution charges, but none since 2013. Almost all the arrests came in undercover stings where an officer paid for a massage and an employee offered sex or a sex act for more money. The reports were first obtained by the Washington Post.
All three businesses where people were fatally shot Tuesday have detailed recent reviews on an online site that leads users to places that provide sexual services.
Investigators believe Long had previously visited two of the Atlanta massage businesses where four of the women were killed, police said.