Atlanta Shooting Spree leaves eight dead amid fears of Anti-Asian Racism
Eight individuals were killed by a Georgia native in separate shootings at three spas in the Atlanta, Georgia area on March 16.
According to police reports, the shooter first took the lives of four people at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor just 30 miles outside of Atlanta.
The shooter then traveled back into the city before taking another three lives at Gold Massage Spa. While police were still investigating the scene at Gold Massage Spa, reports came in about shots fired from Aromatherapy Spa, just across the street. Another life was taken at Aromatherapy Spa.
One victim from Young’s Asian Massage Parlor remains hospitalized and is in stable condition.
What makes this shooting stand out is its suspected roots in anti-Asian racism, as the targeted spas were all Asian-owned businesses and six out of eight fatalities were Asian women.
Mae Tateoka, an Asian-American student at Utah State, said it was “disheartening to see things like this happen.”
When asked about how the element of race potentially played a role in the shooting, Tateoka said that seeing Asian women being targeted doesn’t sit well with her.
“I don’t know how to make things better, but we need to start by spreading love. It’s unfortunate to see people think other cultures are gross. We need to talk more about acceptance of different cultures,” she said.
Director of the USU Inclusion Center Michelle Bogdan-Holt said that she is “exceptionally grateful” USU President Noelle Cockett has come out with a statement in support of Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
“Recently, violence against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders has been brought to light,” she added. “These are often overlooked populations when it comes to violence, and this country has a long history of violence and exploitation of people from Asian descent.”
Other theories about why the Georgia native resorted to violence are also being investigated.
As originally reported by CNN and the New York Times, Tyler Bayless, a former roommate of the shooter at a local rehabilitation facility said that, “on multiple occasions during his stay at the facility, [the shooter] told him that he had ‘relapsed’ and gone to massage parlors explicitly to engage in sex acts.”
The shooter’s church, Crabapple First Baptist, also released a statement condemning the shooter’s actions: “These actions are the result of a sinful heart and depraved mind for which [the shooter] is completely responsible.”
According to the statement, the shooter was undergoing expulsion from membership of the congregation due to his sexual behaviors. He was baptized at Crabapple First Baptist in 2018.
Authorities are still unsure if these spas were targeted in relation to the shooter’s previous visits and are still investigating.
The shooter has been charged with eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. The original arraignment was cancelled, and the shooter is being held in Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.
After early investigations, the nine victims were identified as: Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Soon C. Park, 74; Hyun J. Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; Yong A. Yue, 63; and Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, 30 (injured)
Note: It was intentional that neither the name nor photograph of the shooter were used in this article. Such violent acts are for purposes of attention from media outlets and news sources, and no such attention will be afforded to the suspected perpetrator from the author.