Suspect in Atlanta-area spa shootings indicted in slayings, set to face hate crime charges

The suspect in a string of fatal shootings at Atlanta-area massage parlors was indicted Tuesday on murder charges, and prosecutors signaled they will also seek hate crime charges – something advocates have been pushing since the March slayings rattled the Asian-American community. 

Robert Aaron Long was officially indicted by a Fulton County grand jury for the fatal shootings of four people killed at two spas in Atlanta: Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; and Yong Ae Yue, 63. The indictment does not cover the four others who were killed at another massage parlor in Cherokee County. 

The indictment charges Long with four counts of murder, four counts of felony murder, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and one count of domestic terrorism, according to online records.

It will be up to a separate grand jury in Cherokee County to decide on charges in the shooting at a spa near suburban Woodstock in which four were killed and one person was wounded.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis also filed notice that she intends to seek hate crime charges and the death penalty against Long, who is white. The hate crime charges are based on actual or perceived race, national origin, sex and gender, according to online records. 

More:Georgia spa shootings: Suspect officially charged after 8 people killed at 3 businesses; most victims were Asian

More:The Atlanta shooting put a spotlight on the vulnerability of spa workers. Many are still routinely arrested across Georgia.

Georgia’s new hate crimes law does not provide for a stand-alone hate crime. After a person is convicted of an underlying crime, a jury must determine whether it’s a hate crime, which carries an additional penalty.

After the attack, authorities said Long, 21, claimed his actions were not racially motivated and he frequented some of the spas where the shootings happened. Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Jay Baker said Long viewed the spas, which are all listed on a prominent illicit massage parlor matching website, as "a temptation that he wanted to eliminate."

Baker said Long believed there was "some type of porn industry" in Florida that he intended to confront and that he was on his way to the state when he was apprehended.

The killings came amid a wave of attacks against Asian Americans that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the United States. Of the eight people killed, six were women of Asian descent. Hate crimes against Asian-Americans have been spiking in recent months, and many advocates pushed for hate crime charges in the case, saying the Asian-American businesses were targeted. 

Marcus Lyon, 31, looks at flowers and other memorial items left at the scene of a shooting in Acworth, Georgia. Lyon was inside the Young's Asian Massage spa on March 16 when the shooter came in, and Lyon ducked behind a massage table to hide.
More:A hate crime? Georgia attacks that killed mostly Asian women raise questions of bias, motive

More:Georgia spa shooting suspect, charged with 8 counts of murder, attended rehab for sex addiction

Long had been in rehab for sex addiction and was wracked with guilt about his sexual urges, according to two people who lived with him in transitional housing. He was deeply religious and could not control his desire to visit massage parlors and engage in sexual acts, something that sent him into deep bouts of depre

Three University of Massachusetts Amherst students were suspended after a photo of the trio was posted online showing them attending an off-campus party unmasked and breaking the campus' COVID-related policies, the Washington Post reported. 

The families of the students pledged to fight the school’s decision after each freshman was kicked out of school, forfeiting the entire academic semester and $16,000 in nonrefundable tuition, the parents told CBS Boston. 

The photo was sent to school officials by another student after the March 6 gathering. The three female students were immediately kicked out of campus housing and attended virtual classes while the case was under review. 

After the appeals were lost, each student was cut off from virtual learning and not allowed to take their finals, CBS Boston reported.

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"These beautiful young ladies who are honors students have had a full academic year stripped away and their paths broken of their higher education for alleged COVID violations," one of the parents of the students removed from the school told WCVB-TV. 

USA TODAY has reached out to the university for comment.  

One of the parents said the students were treated unfairly in comparison to when the school’s hockey team returned to campus after winning the 2021 National Championship. 

"The university hosted a parade/event to celebrate the UMass hockey team's national championship win, violating every single one of violations they accuse these girls of," the parent said to WCVB-TV. "It also violated a standing executive order by Gov. Charlie Baker that says, 'no parades, no festivals.'” 

Brandi Hephner LaBanc, the vice chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life, penned a letter to students on March 8 about the “egregious violations of policy” in regards to a subsection of students partying. 

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“All students involved will have their appropriate due process, but under no circumstances will they continue as a university student in the interim,” Lablanc wrote.   

Universities from all over the country banned parties prior to students arriving on campus in the fall to curb COVID-19 cases. 

University of Pennsylvania officials asked that students refrain from organizing parties, and Tulane University threatened to suspend or expel students who throw or attend parties that have more than 15 people. 

“Do you really want to be the reason that Tulane and New Orleans have to shut down again?” the message to students said.