Cops: Sexual addiction given as reason spas were targeted
Suspect in Atlanta-area shootings says crimes not racially motivated.
ATLANTA — The 21-year-old man accused of killing eight people at three metro Atlanta spas said it was a sexual addiction — and not the race of victims — that led him to the alleged crime spree, police said Wednesday.
Robert Aaron Long, accused in three shootings about an hour apart Tuesday in Cherokee County and northeast Atlanta, told investigators he frequented the types of businesses he allegedly targeted: massage parlors. And though six of those killed were Asian, investigators said it’s too early to call the shootings hate crimes.
“During his interview, he gave no indicators that this was racially motivated,” Cherokee Sheriff Frank Reynolds said Wednesday. “We asked him that specifically and the answer was no.”
But Long did take responsibility for the shootings, Capt. Jay Baker with the Cherokee sheriff ’s office said. Long, according to Baker, said the massage parlors represented a “temptation he wanted to eliminate.”
“Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did,” Baker said at a joint news conference with the Atlanta Police Department.
Long also told investigators his
plan was to drive to Florida and commit similar crimes. But he was caught late Tuesday about 150 miles south of Atlanta, thanks in part to his parents, according to police.
Earlier Tuesday, Long bought a gun from a Cherokee shop prior to the shootings. Big Woods Goods in Holly Springs told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Long purchased the gun and the shop is now cooperating with law enforcement. A 9mm firearm was found when Long was arrested in Crisp County late Tuesday.
The string of events started shortly before 5 p.m. near Acworth at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor, according to police. Surveillance cameras captured a man believed to be Long entering the business, then leaving after shots
were fired. Four people died from their injuries, according to police.
They were identified Wednesday as Ashley Yaun, 33, of Acworth; Paul Andre Michels, 54, of Atlanta; Xiaojie Yan, 49, of Kennesaw; and Daoyou Feng, 44, of an
unknown address. A fifth person was also injured but was in stable condition Wednesday.
About an hour later, Atlanta police responded to a report of a robbery at the Gold Spa on Piedmont Road. Inside, officers found three women shot to death. While police were investigating those deaths, shots were fired at the Aromatherapy Spa across the street. There, investigators found a fourth woman dead.
The Cherokee sheriff’s office quickly released surveillance images of the suspect, and Long’s parents contacted investigators, Baker said.
“We are really appreciative of the family,” he said. “Certainly this has been difficult on them.”
Cherokee and Atlanta investigators were immediately in contact to discuss similarities in the shootings, Atlanta interim Chief Rodney Bryant said. From there, investigators tracked Long by his cellphone, Reynolds said.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said investigators believe Long may have been attempting to drive to Florida and possibly commit additional crimes. But he didn’t make it that far.