Eight people were found dead Tuesday following a bloody shooting spree that targeted massage parlors in the Atlanta area.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested about four hours after the first shooting. Authorities say he is a suspect in the shootings that occurred at the three different locations.
Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said it was too early to determine if it was a hate crime, but the shootings took place at spas where a majority of the employees are Asian.
The killing spree began shortly before 5 p.m. when four people were shot and killed and at least one other person was injured at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, Georgia, reports said.
Police said video footage showed the suspect’s vehicle in the area of the Atlanta spas about the time of those attacks as well. That, as well as other video evidence, "suggests it is extremely likely our suspect is the same as Cherokee County’s, who is in custody," Atlanta police said in a statement. Atlanta and Cherokee County authorities were working to confirm the cases are related.
Roughly 25 miles south of the scene of that shooting, three Asian women were shot and killed at Gold Spa and one Asian woman was shot and killed at Aromatherapy Spa in northern Atlanta about one hour later, according to WAGA, the Fox-owned television station in Atlanta.
Long was taken into custody shortly before 9 p.m. according to Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Jay Baker.
Detectives with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office are coordinating with the Atlanta Police Department in the investigation.
Long was driving a dark-colored Hyundai SUV, police said. He was arrested in Crisp County, nearly 150 miles south from where the shootings occurred.
The victims have not yet been identified.
The Associated Press contributed to this report