Authorities said many of the victims appeared to be women of Asian descent. None of the names of the injured or deceased have been publicly released yet.
Police have not explained what Long’s motive might be, but the killings come as violence against Asian Americans has spiked in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Stop AAPI Hate tracks reports of violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Since March 19, 2020, around the start of the pandemic, until Feb. 28 of this year, the organization received 3,795 incidents of “hate incidents” against the Asian American community, according to a report the organization released Tuesday.
It said that number represents a fraction of the true number of hate crimes committed against the community. These incidents range from verbal harassment and shunning to more extreme acts of physical attacks.
Following reports of the shootings in Atlanta, police in New York and Seattle said they are boosting law enforcement presence in Asian American communities.
The Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an Atlanta-based legal advocacy nonprofit, said late Tuesday that the organization is “shaken by the violence in our city.”
We are shaken by the violence in our city that has left 8 ppl dead, including members of the Asian American community. We are gathering info about what happened & the needs of directly impacted are. Now is the time to hold the victims & their families in our hearts & with light pic.twitter.com/Hft5H7IZNW
— AdvancingJusticeATL (@AAAJ_Atlanta) March 17, 2021
This is a developing story. Some things reported by the media will later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops.
Article Appeared @https://www.npr.org/2021/03/16/978024380/8-women-shot-to-death-at-atlanta-massage-parlors-man-arrested