ATLANTA — Seven people are dead and at least two more are injured after a spate of shootings Tuesday at massage parlors around the Atlanta metropolitan area.
In Cherokee County, a suspect is on the run after a shooting that left three people dead and two more injured at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor near Acworth, officials said.
Less than an hour later, four more people were killed in shootings at two separate massage parlors near one another on Piedmont Road, according to interim Atlanta police Chief Rodney Bryant. Piedmont Road is shut down in both directions by heavy police activity in the area.
Although no suspects have been captured in northeast Atlanta, there is no immediate danger to the public, Bryant told WSB-TV.
Officials have not said whether they believe the incidents are connected, but the shootings took place at spas where a majority of the employees are Asian. Atlanta police said that all four victims on Piedmont Road appeared to be Asian women.
In Cherokee, Georgia Highway 92 was temporarily shut down around 5 p.m. as officials investigated the shooting in the 6000 block near the intersection with Bells Ferry Road, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said the suspect was wearing a red and black hoodie and driving a black Hyundai SUV.
It appears all five victims were shot inside the business, sheriff’s office spokesman Capt. Jay Baker said. Surveillance footage shows the suspect pulled up about 4:50 p.m., minutes before the shooting.
The shopping center is closed to the public as investigators search for ballistics, fingerprints and other evidence. The investigation is likely to last several hours, officials said.
The busy highway was temporarily stopped in both directions as it filled with patrol cars, ambulances and a fire truck.
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