The Latest: Authorities identify some of shooting victims
Authorities have released some of the names of the victims who were slain in a series of shootings at massage parlors in the Atlanta area
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Your support makes all the difference.The Latest on Atlanta area shooting where eight people were killed (all times local):
11:05 a.m.
Authorities have released some of the names of the victims who were slain in a series of shootings at massage parlors in the Atlanta area.
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office identified the victims who died there as: 33-year-old Delaina Ashley Yaun, 54-year-old Paul Andre Michels, 49-year-old Xiaojie Yan and 44-year-old Daoyou Feng.
The sheriff's office identified an injured person as 30-year-old Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz.
The series of shootings Tuesday at three Atlanta-area massage parlors left eight people dead.
Police arrested a white 21-year-old Georgia man who they say has taken responsibility for the shootings, while denying they were racially motivated, though many of the victims were women of Asian descent.
Instead, officials told reporters Wednesday that Robert Aaron Long said he was a frequent visitor of massage parlors and intended to eliminate the temptation he thought they posed.
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10:45 a.m.
Georgia officials say it’s too early to determine whether the shooting that left eight dead at massage parlors in the Atlanta are was a hate crime.
The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock Georgia, was questioned by officials and authorities said he had frequented parlors in the past and may have a potential “sex addiction.” But officials wouldn't say whether the parlors where the shootings occurred were places where sex took place.
Long is accused in a series of shootings over nearly an hour at three Atlanta-area massage parlors that left eight people dead and raised fears that the attack was another hate crime against Asian Americans. Officials say he has admitted to the shootings but said they were not racially motivated.
They are still investigating.
The attacks began Tuesday evening, when five people were shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor near Woodstock, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Atlanta. Two people died at the scene, and three were taken to a hospital where two died.
Long was expected to be arraigned Thursday.