One man charged after 8 people - mostly Asian women - were killed in 3 spa shootings in the Atlanta area

• Eight people were killed in shootings at three Atlanta-area spas Tuesday night.
• Robert Aaron Long, 21, has been arrested and charged in connection to the shootings.
• At least six of the eight victims were Asian women. Authorities have not yet determined a motive.

Robert Aaron Long, 21, has been charged after a string of shootings at Atlanta-area massage parlors left eight people dead, six of them Asian women.

The first shooting happened shortly before 5 p.m. at Young's Asian Massage in Acworth, Georgia, a northern suburb of Atlanta.

Four people were killed, including two women of Asian descent, a white woman, and a white man, Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department said, according to Reuters. There was one surviving victim, whom Baker described as an Hispanic man.

Half an hour later, the Atlanta Police Department received a call of a "robbery in progress" at the Gold Spa beauty salon, and found three women shot dead, police chief Rodney Bryant told reporters.

While investigating the shooting, police received a call for another shooting at a spa across the street, Aroma Therapy Spa, where another woman was found dead from a gunshot wound.

All four women found dead at the two Atlanta spas were of Asian descent, Bryant said. Authorities say they have not yet determined a motive.

Long on Wednesday was charged with eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault in connection to the three attacks. Long has been detained in Cherokee County without bond, and waived his right to an attorney, officials said on Wednesday.

One employee at Perfecto Beauty Salon, next door to Young's Asian Massage - one of the three shooting sites - described hearing the shooting to Insider.

The woman, who did not give her name, said the store's employees were inside working at the time of the shooting.

"We didn't see anything," the woman said, speaking of her colleagues. "We were here inside, working. The only thing we heard were noises from the wall" next door, she added.

Another employee at AutoZone Auto Parts, a few blocks down from Young's, told Insider all the store's employees stayed inside during the shooting. The employee declined to be named, but their identity is known to Insider.

"There were lots of police cars driving by the store," the employee said, "but we didn't hear any official details or anything until the news came out."

One suspect likely responsible for all 3 shootings

Authorities soon theorized that a single suspect was responsible for the three shootings. The same vehicle was seen on video at all three crime scenes, making it "extremely likely" that the shootings involved the same suspect, Atlanta Police said in a statement.

Photos of the suspect and his vehicle were released in a bulletin. Around 8 p.m., officials in Crisp County, Georgia, received information that the suspect was heading toward their area, driving south on the I-75, Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock said on Facebook Tuesday night.

Hancock said a state trooper performed a maneuver that caused the suspect's SUV to spin out of control.

At the time, Long was subsequently arrested without incident.

What we know about the suspect

People who knew Long have described him as religious. The Daily Beast said the outlet found an Instagram account, believed to be Long's, that discussed a love for "guns and God."

An unnamed person who said they went to high school with Long told The Daily Beast the suspect was "sorta nerdy" and "big into religion."

"He was very innocent-seeming and wouldn't even cuss. He was sorta nerdy and didn't seem violent from what I remember," the former classmate told The Daily Beast. "He was a hunter and his father was a youth minister or pastor. He was big into religion."

Mary Morgan, an 88-year-old woman who lives down the street from Long's family in Woodstock, also told The Washington Post that "they come across as a good Christian family."

The bio of the Instagram account suspected to belong to Long, as reported by The Daily Beast, said: "Pizza, guns, drums, music, family, and God. This pretty much sums up my life. It's a pretty good life."

NYC, Seattle step up patrols in Asian communities

Six of the eight victims were Asian women, which is raising questions about whether the shootings were a hate crime.

A local news report said Long shouted, "I want to kill all Asians" as he fired at the victims.

Investigators, however, have steered clear from classifying it as a hate crime, but are, according to 11Alive, exploring that possibility.

The attacks have sent shockwaves across the US.

In New York City, police deployed counterterrorism officers to Asian communities, Pix11 News reported. The Seattle Police Department is also stepping up patrols in the city's Asian communities.

Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia tweeted that his family was praying for the victims "of these horrific acts of violence," and credited Georgia law-enforcement officials for their "quick apprehension of a suspect."

Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia added: "My heart is broken tonight after the tragic violence in Atlanta that took eight lives. Once again, we see that hate is deadly. Praying for the families of the victims and for peace for the community."

Rep. Judy Chu, the chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, also tweeted Tuesday night: "Our community has been facing a relentless [sic] increase in attacks and harassment over the past year. As we wait for more details to emerge, I ask everyone to remember that hurtful words and rhetoric have real life consequences."