Atlanta shooting: £1.8m raised for spa victim's sons as rallies slam anti-Asian violence

At least $2.6million (£1.8million) has been raised for the sons of one of the Atlanta spa victims as hundreds rallied against anti-Asian violence this weekend.

Hyun Jung Grant, 51, was one of nine victims in shootings at three different spas across Atlanta on Tuesday.

A total of eight people died – including six women of Asian descent – and one of the victims survived.

Grant, who previously worked as an elementary school teacher, was identified by the Fulton County medical examiner’s office.

Randy Park, Grant's son, explained on the GoFundMe page that he and his brother are now the only family members living in the US, as the rest of their family is from South Korea.

He described his mum as a "single mother who dedicated her whole life" to providing for him and his younger brother.

Robert Long was arrested as the suspect in the series of shootings which left eight dead (Crisp County Sheriff’s Office vi)

"My mother, Hyun Jung Grant (maiden name Kim), was one of the victims of the shootings in Atlanta Georgia at Gold Spa," Park wrote.

"This is something that should never happen to anyone. She was a single mother who dedicated her whole life to providing for my brother and I," he continued.

Many fear the attacks were hate crimes and police have said they are investigating whether the killings were racially motivated.

Mourners sat in front a makeshift shrine outside Gold Spa, where was Grant and three other women were killed (TAMI CHAPPELL/UPI/REX/Shutterstock)

The suspect told the police that he had a “sexual addiction” and had carried out the shootings at massage parlours to eliminate his “temptation,” the authorities said on Wednesday.

Upon his arrest 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long reportedly told officers he attacked the businesses but denied having a racist agenda.

All but one of the victims were women, the police said.

The other Atlanta victims were identified as Soon Chung Park, 74, Suncha Kim, 69, and Yong Ae Yue, 63.

Four others identified as Delaina Yaun, 33, Paul Andre Michels, 54, Xiaojie Tan, 49, and Daoyou Feng, 44 were killed in the shooting in Acworth.

Thousands gathered outside the state Capitol and marched through downtown (Robin Rayne/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock)

Protestors hold signs at a Stop Asian Hate rally outside of the Georgia State Capitol on March 20 (Nathan Posner/REX/Shutterstock)

One man, Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, was shot but thankfully survived.

The atrocity has brought a new focus to hate crimes against Asian people living in the US, which have more than doubled in the year since the Covid pandemic broke out.

On Saturday afternoon, hundreds gathered in front of Georgia's state Capitol to demand justice for the victims and denounce racism, xenophobia, and misogyny.