Ga. spa shooter Long expelled from his church
Parishioners at a Baptist church have voted to expel the gunman who killed eight people, including six Asian women, during at March 16 rampage at three Atlanta-area spas.
“Our hearts are filled with so many emotions — with grief, with anger, sadness, with emptiness, confusion,” Associate Pastor Luke Folsom of Crabapple First Baptist Church prayed during an hourlong service Sunday attended by more than 100 congregants, ac- cording to The Washington Post.
“There’s so much confusion. It doesn’t make any sense. But, Father, we know this is the result of sin. It displays the total corruption of mankind.”
Robert Long, 21, is being held on eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault, for a victim who survived the bloodshed.
The church on Friday released a statement placing responsibility solely on Long’s shoulders.
Xiaojie Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, and Paul Andre Michels, 54, were fatally shot at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, Ga., and 30-year-old Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz was wounded, police said.
Also killed were Soon C. Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; and Yong A. Yue, 63.
The second two sites were spas across the street from each other, Gold Massage Spa and Aroma Therapy Spa, in downtown Atlanta, about 25 miles south of the first scene.
The service opened with a female congregation member reading the names of murdered women from the pulpit, the Post
reported.
In Friday’s statement, the church distanced itself from Long and his actions.
“We were absolutely devastated at this senseless loss of life and callous disregard for human beings created in the image of God,” the church’s statement said.
“We grieve for the victims and their families, and we continue to pray for all of those affected by this heinous crime as they deal with unimaginable pain and sorrow.”
“Furthermore, we were absolutely distraught when we found out that the shooter was a member of our congregation,” the church’s statement added.
“The Long family have been members of our church for many years. We watched [the suspect] grow up and accepted him into church membership when he made his own profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
“These unthinkable and egregious murders directly contradict his own confession of faith in Jesus and the gospel.”
Long was captured about 125 miles south of Atlanta after a highway chase.
Authorities say he was en route to Florida to kill more people.