ATLANTA — Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds said Wednesday the suspect in a shooting spree that killed eight people bought the gun he used hours earlier.
Investigators also believe 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, accused in the shootings in Cherokee and Atlanta, may have a sexual addiction and frequented the types of businesses he allegedly targeted.
”During his interview, he gave no indicators that this was racially motivated,” Reynolds said. “We asked him that specifically and the answer was no.”
But Long did take responsibility for the shootings, Capt. Jay Baker with the Cherokee sheriff’s office said Wednesday. Long, according to Baker, said the massage parlors represented a “temptation he wanted to eliminate.”
“Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did,” Baker said.
Reynolds said Long bought a gun from a Cherokee shop prior to the shootings. A 9 mm firearm was found when Long was arrested in Crisp County, about 150 miles south of Atlanta.
Investigators believe Long is the suspect in shootings at three spas that happened about an hour apart Tuesday afternoon.
The string of events started shortly before 5 p.m. EDT near Acworth at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor, according to police. Surveillance cameras captured a man believed to be Long entering the business, then leaving after shots were fired. Four people died from their injuries, according to police. They were identified as Ashley Yaun, 33, of Acworth; Paul Andre Michels, 54, of Atlanta; Xiaojie Yan, 49, of Kennesaw; and Daoyou Feng, 44, of an unknown address.
About an hour later, Atlanta police responded to a report of a robbery at the Gold Spa on Piedmont Road. Inside, officers found three women shot to death. While police were investigating those deaths, shots were fired at the Aromatherapy Spa across the street. There, investigators found a fourth woman dead.
The Cherokee sheriff’s office quickly released surveillance images of the suspect, and Long’s parents contacted investigators, Baker said.
“We are really appreciative of the family,” he said. “Certainly this has been difficult on them.”
Cherokee and Atlanta investigators were immediately in contact to discuss similarities in the shootings, Atlanta interim Chief Rodney Bryant said. From there, investigators tracked Long by his cellphone, Reynolds said.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said investigators believe Long may have been attempting to drive to Florida and possibly commit additional crimes. But he didn’t make it that far.
Crisp County deputies, along with the Georgia State Patrol, were waiting for Long as he entered Crisp County. He was later returned to Cherokee, where his first court appearance is expected Thursday morning.
