Multiple Asian Women Were Killed in Georgia Massage Parlor Shootings

On Tuesday evening, eight people were shot dead at three different massage parlors near Atlanta, Georgia. According to the New York Times, six of the eight people were Asian, and seven were women.

This shooting comes after months of violent attacks against Asian and Asian Americans, several of which have gone viral on social media. The organization Stop AAPI Hate formed in March 2020 to track reports of violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders “in response to the alarming escalation in xenophobia and bigotry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.” While the organization has stated that “few details about these shootings have been released, including whether or not they were motivated by hate,” since last March, it has received nearly 3,800 reports of anti-Asian hate from across the nation.

Below, what you need to know about this most recent act of violence and how you can continue to support Asians, Asian Americans, and the AAPI community.

What happened on March 16

Per the Times, the first shooting took place at Young’s Asian Massage and was reported to police around 5 p.m. Four people were killed and a Hispanic man was injured. Less than an hour later, officers went to Gold Spa, about 30 miles away, to respond to a robbery and found three more women dead with gunshot wounds. At the same time officers were at Gold Spa, Atlanta police said they received a report about Aromatherapy Spa across the street. There, they found another woman who had been shot. The 21-year-old suspect, who is white, is now in custody, and a spokesman for the Atlanta field office told the Times that the FBI is assisting in the investigation. According to CNN, police said, due to video evidence, “it is extremely likely” that the same person was responsible for all three shootings.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that authorities have yet to release the identities of the victims, though an official from the South Korean Consulate in Atlanta confirmed to the Times that four of the people were Korean.

The response

Georgia politicians have tweeted in response to Tuesday’s shooting, including Gov. Brian Kemp and Sen. Raphael Warnock:

Source: Read Full Article