Robert Aaron Long, 21, of Woodstock, Cherokee County, Georgia killed eight people on March 16, 2021. Four of the victims were killed in Cherokee County.
Just before 5:00 p.m. that day, Long fired at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor in Cherokee County, killing three Asian women and one white man and injuring one Hispanic man. The white man, Paul Andre Michels, 54, of Atlanta, Georgia, is the oldest among the victims.
The three Asian women who were killed were Xiaojie Yan, 49, Daoyou Feng, 44, and Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33. Yan was from Kennesaw, Cobb County, Georgia while Yaun was from Acworth, Cobb County.
Feng’s residence was unknown. The Hispanic man who was injured is Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, 30, of Acworth.
Around 45 minutes after shooting at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor, Long went to Piedmont Road in Atlanta and fired at two spas, killing four Asian women. Three were at Gold Spa and one was at Aromatherapy Spa.
The names of the victims in Atlanta have yet to be released. Also, Long has yet to be charged for the deaths of the four Asian women at the two spas.
At around 8:30 p.m., Long was arrested without incident in Crisp County, Georgia. The next day, he was charged with four counts of murder and one count of assault in the shooting in Cherokee County.
Long has been extradited to Cherokee County. He likely acted alone in the shootings, according to City of Atlanta Police Department chief Rodney N. Bryant.
Based on what Long told the authorities, the attacks were not motivated by the fact that most of the victims were Asian. An active member of the Crabapple First Baptist Church, the suspect claimed that he had an issue with pornography and he was trying to take out that temptation.
“He was fed up at the end of his rope,” Cherokee County Sheriff’s Officer’s Captain Jay Baker said of Long. “He had a bad day and this is what he did.”
Baker explained that Long apparently saw the massage parlors and spas as an outlet for his sexual addiction. As a religious man, the killer allegedly felt that visiting such places was something he should not be doing.
CONAN Daily 