>> GOOD EVENING, CHRIS, THANK
YOU, MY FRIEND.
>>> AND THANKS TO YOU AT HOME
FOR JOINING US THIS HOUR.
WE ARE COVERING LATE BREAKING
NEWS OUT OF GEORGIA TONIGHT.
AND I HAVE TO WARN YOU, IT IS
DISTURBING NEWS AND THIS IS A
DEVELOPING STORY.
SEVEN PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SHOT AND
KILLED IN GEORGIA TONIGHT, IN
THE ATLANTA METRO AREA.
AT LEAST TWO MORE PEOPLE HAVE
BEEN
BEEN INJURED IN WHAT APPEAR TO
BE CONNECTED ATTACKS.
POLICE CONFIRM THERE IS A
SUSPECT IN THESE SHOOTINGS, THAT
CONFIRMATION COMING IN THE LAST
FEW MINUTES.
POLICE SAY THE SHOOTINGS
OCCURRED AT THREE DIFFERENT
LOCATIONS, AGAIN, ALL IN THE
ATLANTA METRO AREA, ALL THREE
LOCATIONS ARE MASSAGE PARLORS.
A SUSPECTED SHOOTER FIRST
ENTERED A BUSINESS CALLED
YOUNG’S ASIAN MASSAGE PARLOR IN
CHEROKEE COUNTY, 45 MINUTES
OUTSIDE OF ATLANTA.
POLICE SAY THE SHOOTER AT THAT
LOCATION SPOT AND KILLED THREE
PEOPLE THERE AT THAT MASSAGE
PARLOR AND INJURED TWO OTHERS.
THEN IN A DIFFERENT LOCATION,
LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER, FOUR
MORE PEOPLE SHOT AND KILLED AT
TWO ADDITIONAL MASSAGE PARLORS
IN ATLANTA.
AGAIN, SO THIS IS METRO ATLANTA,
CHEROKEE COUNTY, AND ATLANTA
PROPER.
NOW, OFFICIALS HAVE NOT SAID
WHETHER THEY THINK THESE
SHOOTINGS AT THREE PLACES WERE
CONNECTED, BUT POLICE DID NOTE
TONIGHT THAT THE SHOOTINGS TOOK
PLACE AT THREE SPAS, THREE
MASSAGE PARLORS, WHERE THE
MAJORITY OF THE EMPLOYEES ARE
ASIAN.
POLICE SAY ALL FOUR VICTIMS WHO
WERE SHOT AND KILLED AT THE
SECOND AND THIRD LOCATIONS
APPEARED TO BE ASIAN WOMEN.
NOW, POLICE SAY THEY HAVE NOT
YET IDENTIFIED A SUSPECT OR A
MOTIVE.
BUT AGAIN, NBC’S AFFILIATE IN
ATLANTA IS CONFIRMING JUST
WITHIN THE PAST FEW MINUTES THAT
A SUSPECT IS IN CUSTODY IN
CONNECTION WITH THESE CRIMES.
IT IS IMPORTANT OF COURSE TO
NOTE HERE AS CONTEXT THAT THIS
NEWS, THIS BREAKING NEWS COMES
TONIGHT AT A TIME WHEN HATE
CRIMES TARGETING ASIAN-AMERICANS
HAS SKYROCKETED, NOT JUST IN THE
LAST YEAR BUT SPECIFICALLY
WITHIN THE PAST FEW WEEKS.
THAT CAN’T BE FAR FROM OUR MINDS
AS WE ABSORB THIS DEVELOPING
STORY OUT OF ATLANTA.
JOINING US NOW ON THE PHONE IS
NBC NEWS’S ATLANTA-BASED
CORRESPONDENT BLAYNE ALEXANDER
WHO IS FOLLOWING THIS STORY
CLOSELY TONIGHT.
BLAYNE, LET ME ASK YOU, I KNOW
THIS IS A DEVELOPING AND FLUID
STORY.
DID I SAY ANYTHING THERE THAT IS
WRONG, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT
YOU CAN UPDATE US ON CURRENT
REPORTING?
>> Reporter: NOTHING WRONG, DO I
HAVE ONE UPDATE, AN UNFORTUNATE
ONE TO BRING TO YOU.
IT DOES APPEAR THERE HAS BEEN AN
ADDITIONAL CASUALTY.
WE’VE JUST GOTTEN AN UPDATE FROM
THE CHEROKEE COUNTY CAPTAIN WHO
HAS BEEN UPDATING US THROUGHOUT
THE EVENING, AND HE SAYS THAT
ONE OF THE INJURED INDIVIDUALS
HAS PASSED.
SO NOW IT DOES LOOK LIKE THAT
BRINGS THE DEATH TOLL
UNFORTUNATELY TO EIGHT PEOPLE IN
THIS COMBINATION OF THREE
SHOOTINGS.
YOU LAID IT OUT THERE PRETTY
WELL, I MEAN, WHAT WE’RE LOOKING
AT ARE THREE DIFFERENT
LOCATIONS.
IT SEEMS MOST OF THIS UNFOLDED
OVER THE COURSE OF ABOUT AN HOUR
OR SO.
SO THE FIRST ONE WAS ABOUT 45
MINUTES, MAYBE AN HOUR NORTH OF
ATLANTA.
THAT’S WHERE THAT FIRST SHOOTING
TOOK PLACE.
AND THAT’S WHERE OFFICIALS SAY
THEY DO HAVE THE SUSPECT IN
CUSTODY, AS YOU MENTIONED.
WE’RE LEARNING A LITTLE BIT MORE
ABOUT HIM.
HE’S A 21-YEAR-OLD, HIS NAME IS
ROBERT AARON LONG.
HE WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AFTER
OFFICIALS, YOU KNOW, WERE ABLE
TO RELEASE A SURVEILLANCE PHOTO
OF HIM AND WERE ABLE TO CAPTURE
HIM IN A DIFFERENT COUNTY.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THEY
DID A SORT OF PIT MANEUVER ON
HIM, AND ESSENTIALLY WERE ABLE
TO TAKE HIM INTO CUSTODY AS HE
WAS FLEEING AND ON THE ROAD.
HE WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY
WITHOUT INCIDENT.
THAT’S ACCORDING TO THE CAPTAIN
THERE IN CHEROKEE COUNTY.
BUT THEN HE CAME BACK DOWN TO
METRO ATLANTA, KIND OF THE NORTH
ATLANTA AREA, THE BUCKHEAD AREA,
AND HE WAS AT TWO DIFFERENT
MASSAGE PARLORS WHICH WERE
ACROSS THE STREET FROM ONE
ANOTHER.
ATLANTA POLICE TOLD US THEY HAD
ACTUALLY GOTTEN CALLS FROM ONE
OF THEM, AND IT WAS A ROBBERY IN
PROGRESS, THEY RESPONDED TO A
ROBBERY IN PROGRESS, AND WHILE
THERE THEY GOT A CALL FOR SHOTS
FIRED AT A PARLOR ACROSS THE
STREET.
THOSE TWO DIFFERENT SCENES ARE
SOMETHING THEY’RE LOOKING AT.
OF COURSE, THE BIG QUESTION
WE’RE ASKING, ARE THEY
CONNECTED, ARE THE TWO DIFFERENT
COUNTIES CONNECTED.
THEY SAY IT’S TOO EARLY TO SAY
WHETHER THEY’RE CONNECTED, IT’S
TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE IF THIS
WAS ANY SORT OF A HATE CRIME OR
ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
THEY SAY THEY CERTAINLY ARE IN
TOUCH WITH OFFICIALS IN THE
OTHER COUNTIES TO DETERMINE WHAT
IF ANYTHING CONNECTED THESE
INCIDENTS OVERNIGHT, RACHEL.
>> BLAYNE, DO YOU KNOW, AND HAVE
AUTHORITIES BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM
THAT THE THREE DIFFERENT SITES,
THESE SPAS, DAY SPAS OR MASSAGE
PARLORS THAT WERE TARGETED, WERE
ALL ESSENTIALLY AT LEAST
MARKETED AS ASIAN SPAS?
OBVIOUSLY WE’RE THINKING ABOUT
THIS IN TERMS OF WHETHER OR NOT
SOMEBODY MAY HAVE SPECIFICALLY
BEEN TARGETING ASIAN-AMERICANS
FOR THESE MULTIPLE SHOOTINGS.
WERE THESE ALL SPAS THAT WERE
MARKETED AS ASIAN LOCATIONS?
>> IN CHEROKEE COUNTY, IN THE
FIRST SHOOTING, THAT IS
CERTAINLY THE CASE.
THE OTHER TWO, WE’RE STILL
GETTING INFORMATION ON THOSE.
BUT WE DO KNOW THAT’S THE CASE
IN THE CHEROKEE COUNTY SHOOTING,
AND THAT’S SOMETHING THAT THE
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, THE
CAPTAIN UP THERE, SPOKE ABOUT
WHEN HE WAS GIVING HIS FIRST AND
INITIAL BRIEFING.
AND AGAIN, HE WOULDN’T GO SO FAR
AS TO SAY WHETHER IT WAS
TARGETED FOR THAT REASON.
BUT HE DID MAKE NOTE THAT HAVE
WHEN HE WAS GIVING HIS FIRST
BRIEFING, RACHEL.
>> AND BLAYNE, YOU MENTIONED
THERE IS A 21-YEAR-OLD MAN,
ROBERT AARON LONG, WHO IS SAID
NOW TO BE IN CUSTODY.
DO WE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHY
POLICE TARGETED HIM, WHY THEY
WERE ABLE TO RELEASE A PHOTO OF
HIM, WHY THEY APPREHENDED HIM?
DO WE KNOW ABOUT WHY THEY
BELIEVE HE IS CONNECTED TO THESE
CRIMES?
>> FROM WHAT WE UNDERSTAND, THEY
JUST HAD THAT SURVEILLANCE
VIDEO.
WE DO UNDERSTAND THERE WERE SOME
WITNESSES INSIDE THE BUSINESS AT
THE TIME.
POLICE OF COURSE ARE TRYING TO
TALK TO THEM, TRYING TO GET ANY
INFORMATION FROM THEM.
BUT THERE WERE SOME PEOPLE WHO
WERE ABLE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED.
NOW, THE 911 CALL, AS WE
UNDERSTAND, CAME FROM TWO PEOPLE
WHO WERE ACTUALLY INSIDE THE
BUILDING THAT WERE NOT SHOT AND
WERE NOT INJURED, FORTUNATELY.
THEY’RE THE ONES WHO MADE THE
CALLS.
POLICE ARE STILL TRYING TO TALK
TO THEM TO FIGURE OUT WHAT
EXACTLY THEY KNOW.
IT’S CERTAINLY POSSIBLE THAT
INFORMATION COULD HAVE COME FROM
THOSE WHO WITNESSED THIS, AT
LEAST IN PART, RACHEL.
>> BLAYNE ALEXANDER, NBC NEWS,
ATLANTA-BASED CORRESPONDENT
FOLLOWING THIS STORY CLOSELY AS
IT CONTINUES TO VERY MANY.
BLAYNE, I HAVE A FEELING WE’LL
BE BACK WITH YOU SOONER RATHER
THAN LATER ON THIS STORY.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US ON
SHORT NOTICE TONIGHT.
AGAIN, THIS IS NEWS THAT WE ARE
FOLLOWING IS A DEVELOPING STORY,
THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT WHAT
WE’RE LOOKING AT HERE IS, WE
BELIEVE, EIGHT DEAD.
ADDITIONAL PEOPLE INJURED.
SHOOTINGS AT THREE DIFFERENT
MASSAGE PARLORS OR DAY SPAS IN
THE ATLANTA AREA, ONE IN
CHEROKEE COUNTY AS BLAYNE
DESCRIBED, 45 MINUTES OR AN HOUR
NORTH OF ATLANTA, THE OTHER TWO
IN ATLANTA PROPER.
POLICE DO HAVE A SUSPECT IN
CUSTODY NOW.
RECENTLY, NOW, A 21-YEAR-OLD MAN
WHO IS IN CUSTODY IN CONJUNCTION
WITH THESE ATTACKS.
BUT WE DON’T KNOW MORE THAN
THAT.
THIS IS THE PHOTO THAT WE’VE GOT
OF THE ALLEGED SUSPECT OR AT
LEAST THE PERSON WHO IS IN
CUSTODY TONIGHT.
WE DON’T KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS.
BUT OBVIOUSLY PART OF WHAT IS
FRONT OF MIND HERE IS THE SURGE
IN ANTI-ASIAN-AMERICAN HATE
CRIMES IN MULTIPLE STATES IN
RECENT DAYS, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE
WE KNOW AT LEAST THE FIRST OF
THESE MASSAGE PARLORS TARGETED
TONIGHT WAS MARKETED AS AN ASIAN
DAY SPA, AN ASIAN MASSAGE
PARLOR.
WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT MULTIPLE
OF THE DECEASED VICTIMS, SEVERAL
OF THE DECEASED VICTIMS TONIGHT
ARE ASIAN WOMEN.
DISTURBING STORY THAT IS
CONTINUING TO DEVELOP TONIGHT IN
THE ATLANTA AREA.
WE WILL LET YOU KNOW MORE AS WE
LEARN MORE.
ALL RIGHT.