Atlanta shooting: Suspect’s church decries killings as ‘wicked betrayal’
The Baptist church, where the suspect in Tuesday’s Atlanta-area spa killings was a member, issued a statement on Friday decrying the attack as a wicked betrayal of faith and describing the eight victims, including six women of Asian descent, as blameless.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, has been charged with eight counts of homicide in the fatal shooting of four people at two spas in Atlanta and four others at a massage parlor in Cherokee County.
The Crabapple First Baptist Church in Milton, Georgia, said in a statement that Long’s “extreme and wicked act is nothing less than rebellion against our Holy God and His Word.”
The church, where Long and his father are members, has further stated, “Aaron’s actions are antithetical to everything that we believe and teach as a church. In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the actions of Aaron Long as well as his stated reasons for carrying out this wicked plan. No blame can be placed upon the victims.”
Investigators stated that Long admitted to carrying out the attacks, claiming he was driven by internal conflict over what he described as a sex addiction rather than a racial bias toward Asians. Authorities, however, stressed, that they have not ruled out charging Long with hate crimes.
The rampage has put Asian Americans on edge; who see the crimes as a part of a national surge in racially motivated attacks that has accelerated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were due to visit Atlanta on Friday to offer support to Asian-Americans and meet with leaders of the area’s growing Asian-American and Pacific Islander community.
Officials have identified the four Atlanta victims as Soon C. Park, 74, Hyun J. Grant, 51, Suncha Kim, 69, and Yong A. Yue, 63. All were of Korean descent, according to South Korea’s consulate in Atlanta.
The Cherokee County victims were identified by authorities as Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, Paul Andre Michels, 54, Xiaojie Yan, 49, and Daoyou Feng, 44.
The Georgia killings have prompted police departments to step up patrols and visibility in Asian-American communities around the country.
