A Latino man who survived the Atlanta spa shootings has described how he was handcuffed at the scene and detained for hours while his wife lay dead.
Mario Gonzalez and his wife Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, were getting massages in separate rooms at Young’s Asian Massage when he heard the gunshots.
In an interview with Spanish-language Mundo Hispanico, he described how he was paralysed with fear and took cover in his locked room while hoping that his wife was safe. “I did not open the door out of fear,” he said.
Mr Gonzalez said police arrived soon after the gunman left, after which he says they handcuffed him and kept him detained for four hours. He said police ignored his requests to take him to his wife or inform him about her being alive or dead.
He said it was only several hours later that an officer told him his wife had died, while suggesting that his race may have been a reason behind his treatment by the police.
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"Maybe because I’m Mexican, I don’t know. Because the truth is they treated me badly," said Mr Gonzalez, who got married to Yaun last year.
His niece, Jessica Gonzalez, told the Daily Mail that "he’s very upset and angry about that. He was handcuffed for something he didn’t do. I think it was a racial thing. He was the only one left in handcuffs.”
Alex Acosta, who works next door to the spa, said he came outside after the shooting and saw Mr Gonzalez in handcuffs. “Mario looked at me and he told me his wife was still inside. He told me to tell the police.”
The couple had an eight-month-old daughter. Yaun also had a 13-year-old son from her previous relationship.
Mr Gonzalez is now worried about providing for his family, he said. “What I need most right now is support.” So far, over $125,000 (£90,000) has been raised in an appeal for funds to help the family and cover the costs of Yaun’s funeral.
Police have arrested 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long and charged him with killing eight people, including six Asian American women, at three massage parlours in the Atlanta area. The incident sparked outrage across the US and comments from political leaders, including president Joe Biden, about rising hate crimes against the Asian American community.
