Asian women among 8 killed in Atlanta spa shootings

Six Asian women were among eight people shot and killed at spas around the US city of Atlanta Tuesday, with a white man in custody on suspicion of staging all three attacks, police said.

The shootings came with many Asian-Americans already on edge following a recent spike in hate crimes against the community, and triggered immediate fears that Asian-run businesses may have been deliberately targeted.

Four of the victims were killed at Young's Asian Massage near Acworth, a suburb of Georgia state capital Atlanta, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County sheriff's office told the paper the victims were two Asian women, a white woman, and a white man, while a Hispanic man was wounded.

Adriana Mejia, niece of one of the victims, said the family was "devastated" after her uncle was shot and that they were praying for his recovery.

"We never know when we're at the wrong place at the wrong time because this was so all of a sudden," she said.

Police separately confirmed that four women had been killed in attacks on two other spas in the northeast of the city.

Describing the scene in northeast Atlanta, the city police department said: "Upon arrival, officers located three females deceased inside the location from apparent gunshot wounds."

While on the scene, officers were advised of shots fired across the street, where they found a fourth female victim.

Police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that all four were Asian women.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported the country's foreign ministry had confirmed that four of the victims were of Korean descent.

Authorities have identified Robert Aaron Long as a suspect in all three shootings.

Based on the pattern of surveillance video from the shooting scenes, Atlanta police spokesman Sergeant John Chafee told AFP: "It is extremely likely our suspect is the same as Cherokee County's, who is in custody."

"We are working closely with them to confirm with certainty our cases are related," he added.

Long was taken into custody after a "brief pursuit" about 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Atlanta, according to a statement by the Georgia Department of Safety on Facebook.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was assisting in the investigation, a spokesman told AFP.

The shootings come as reports of attacks against Asian-Americans, primarily elders, have spiked in recent months -- fueled during the Covid-19 pandemic, activists believe, by talk of the "Chinese virus" by former president Donald Trump and others.

News of the shootings came just hours after the release of a report by the advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate suggested a marked increase in hate crimes against Asia-Americans -- with women disproportionately affected.

In a tally of incidents reported to the group between March 2020 and February this year, almost 70 percent of Asian-American survey respondents said they had faced verbal harassment and just over one in 10 said they had experienced physical assault.

Georgia is home to nearly 500,000 Asian residents, or just over four percent of its population, according to the Asian American Advocacy Fund.

Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock condemned the violence in a tweet late Tuesday.

"My heart is broken tonight after the tragic violence in Atlanta that took eight lives broken tonight after the tragic violence in Atlanta that took eight lives," he said.

"Praying for the families of the victims and for peace for the community."

The Democratic party in the state called Tuesday's shooting spree "horrifying."

"As details continue to emerge, this attack sadly follows the unacceptable pattern of violence against Asian Americans that has skyrocketed throughout this pandemic," said Congresswoman Nikema Williams, who is also the state party's chairwoman.

In an address to the nation last Thursday, President Joe Biden forcefully condemned what he called "vicious hate crimes against Asian-Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated."

"It's wrong. It's un-American. And it must stop," he said.