Parents of Spa Shooting Suspect Help Authorities Catch Him

The trail of the spa shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long became red hot after Cherokee County deputies received a surveillance video of the suspect leaving the Young's Asian Massage near Acworth on Tuesday afternoon.

Long's parents pursued help from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office in locating their son. They also told deputies that a tracking device in his car, a Hyundai Tucson, might lead authorities to him. Jay Baker, a spokesman for the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, said he didn't know why Long was being tracked or if he was aware of it.

They do know that Long, who is accused of fatally shooting eight people at three metro Atlanta massage parlors on Tuesday, March 16, would not have been arrested if not for the GPS tracker and his parents' cooperation.

Bottoms said that it could have been a lot worse. Bottoms also continued: "There would almost definitely have been more victims."

Long, 21, admitted to police that he struggled with sexual addiction and regularly visited the three parlors where the victims, all Asian women except for two, were shot and killed. Long was not motivated by racial prejudice, according to Baker.

Long regarded Florida as a sexual hotspot and "an outlet for something he shouldn't be doing." Spas in the Atlanta area were "temptations to him that he wanted to avoid," Baker said.

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Atlanta authorities responded to a robbery alarm at Gold's Spa on Piedmont Road when Cherokee deputies met with Long's parents.

At the time, Long was going south. Cherokee Sheriff Frank Reynolds had called the Georgia State Patrol and Crisp County Sheriff Bill Hancock, who was waiting for him.

Long's dark-colored Hyundai was seen driving south on I-75 near Cordele around 8:30 p.m. by troopers and Crisp deputies. After a brief pursuit, police used the PIT maneuver, forcing a fleeing vehicle to suddenly turn sideways, making the driver lose control and come to a halt. 

In his car, police discovered a 9 mm handgun. Long allegedly confessed to the killings and claimed that he was acting alone, according to police. He was returned to Cherokee County and is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.

Baker then explained that Long had been fed up and that day of the shooting has been a "terrible day" for him, thus why he did what he did.

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The Atlanta spa shooting incident

The first spa shooting incident occurred at Young's Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, Highway 92, about 30 miles north of Atlanta.

Around 5 p.m., police received a call about a shooting and discovered five people had been wounded. Two people have been killed, whereas three other people have been taken to a local hospital, where two more died. Baker said the fifth individual was hurt but was in good condition on Wednesday.

An hour later, at the Gold Spa and the Aromatherapy Spa on Piedmont Road in Atlanta, two more shootings occurred across the street from each other.

Sheriff Reynolds said his office released the suspect's surveillance images right away, and Long's family called the office, assuming their son was involved.

The spa shooting suspect was Robert Aaron Long, 21, from Woodstock, Georgia. He was officially charged with eight counts of murder in all three shootings on Wednesday, March 17.

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