Probe into killing of six Asian women, two others 'far from over,' Atlanta police say

FILE PHOTO: Flowers and a poster are left outside Gold Spa following the deadly shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. March 17, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton 


ATLANTA (Reuters) - Police in Georgia sought further clues on Thursday to the motive in the fatal shootings of eight people, six of them Asian women, at Atlanta-area spas that heightened concern over a recent surge of hate crimes directed at Asian Americans.

The 21-year-old accused gunman, Robert Aaron Long, who is white, suggested to investigators that a sex addiction led him to carry out Tuesday's violent rampage at three spas - two of them in Atlanta and one in Cherokee County about 40 miles (64 km) north of Georgia's state capitol, authorities said.