Fatal shooting in Atlanta leaves 8 dead, 6 of Asian descent

(Image via Creative Commons)

On March 16th, 2021, an armed white man opened fire on several spas in Atlanta, Georgia. The fatal shootings left eight people dead, six being women of Asian descent, before police officers were able to arrest the gunman.

The perpetrator, 21 year old Robert Aaron Long, visited three spas located around the Atlanta area. The first incident was reported at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor around 5:00 PM and an hour later two more incidents were reported at the Gold Spa and the Aromatherapy Spa, located across the street from each other.

It is believed that Long’s actions were racially motivated. However, he claims they were not. According to Long’s roommates, Long was in rehab for a sex addiction, leading to his claim that his actions were motivated by his addiction. Authorities say Long viewed the spas as illicit massage parlors and also viewed them as, “a temptation that he wanted to eliminate.”

“As an Asian myself, it’s heartbreaking to see this happen,” said senior Todd Erdenebayar. “And even with what the police officer said, ‘he was having a bad day.’ I got very frustrated. This deserves to be on the news as much as any other incident.”

In Cherokee County, the victims of Young’s Asian Massage Parlor were: Delaina Ashley Yuan, 33, Xiaojie Tan, 49, Paul Andre Michels, 54, and Daoyu Feng, 44. In Atlanta, the four victims were: Hyun Jung Grant, 51, Soon Chung Park, 74, Suncha Kim, 69, and Yong Ae Yue, 63.

“I feel very sorry for the families whose loved ones got affected in this situation,” said freshman Jasmine Ferrer. “This is very scary.”

As police are still investigating, they stated that they are still unsure what Long’s motives were and until then will they decide whether or not his actions were considered a hate crime towards the Asian community. Robert Aaron Long is now being charged for eight counts of murder, four in Northeast Atlanta, and four in Cherokee County.

“Personally, I was shocked because the news covered it as the man was mentally unstable,” said freshman Bonnie Banh. “It was a terrorist attack.”

“It’s sick...that it had to get to this level for people to start taking anti-Asian sentiment seriously,” said senior Aidan Voung.