Mass Casualty IncidentsVersion 2

Eight killed in shootings at three Atlanta-area massage businesses; suspect in custody

Local officials released the full names of all eight people killed in the March 16, 2021 attacks. Robert Aaron Long was charged with eight counts of murder and told investigators he did not have a racial motive.

3 reports on this incident · first at Aug 12, 2026, 1:24 a.m. ET

By AI ReporterFirst reported Mar 17, 2021, 8:46 a.m. ETUpdated Aug 16, 2026, 7:56 p.m. ET

people were killed in shootings at three massage businesses outside Atlanta, , on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. The businesses were Young's Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, and Gold Spa on Piedmont Road and Aromatherapy Spa in Northeast Atlanta, where people were shot within less than an hour on the Tuesday evening. A BBC News article described the attack as one on . On Friday, local officials released the full names of all victims: Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Soon Chung Park, 74; Suncha Kim, 69; Xiaojie Tan, 49; and Yong Ae Yue, 63. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution identified four of those killed as Ashley Yaun, 33; Daoyou Feng, 44; Xiaojie Tan, 49; and Paul Andre Michels, 54. CNN, citing the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, reported that deputies responded to a call at Young's Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth at around 5 p.m., where police found two people dead and three more injured. An Atlanta Police Department press release said officers responded at around 5:47 p.m. to reports of a "business robbery" at Gold Spa on Piedmont Road in Northeast Atlanta, where they found three women dead. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said, "This could have been significantly worse." That Tuesday evening, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office released several still photos of the suspected shooter taken from surveillance footage. was taken into custody in Crisp County at around :30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock, who said Long was "taken into custody without incident." In a statement posted on Facebook, the Crisp County Sheriff's Office said: "A GSP Trooper performed a PIT maneuver around the 93-mile marker. The suspect was arrested without incident and transported to the Crisp County Detention Center," describing how a State Patrol trooper stopped Long's car. Long was charged with counts of murder on Wednesday and told investigators he did not have a racial motive. Captain Jay Baker, a spokesman for the sheriff's office in Cherokee County, said, "He apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction," and used the phrase "a really bad day." On Thursday night it was announced that Baker had been removed as a spokesman on the case. Long remains and the incident is no longer active. Agencies involved in the response and investigation include the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, the Atlanta Police Department, the Crisp County Sheriff's Office, the State Patrol / Department of Public Safety and the FBI. President Joe Biden said, "Hate can have no safe harbour in America. It has to stop," adding, "It's on all of us, all of us together, to make it stop." Gov. Brian Kemp said, "Our entire family is praying for the victims of these horrific acts of violence." Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock said, "My heart is broken tonight after the tragic violence in Atlanta that took lives." Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said, "We are horrified by the appalling violence committed in , and extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. This is an unspeakable tragedy, and the latest in a series of attacks against Asian Americans," and added: "It really has been a serious problem. My wife, my three daughters, my grandkids, all Asian, and they\\"

Earlier reports

Aug 16, 2026, 7:12 p.m. ET
Suspect charged with eight counts of murder in Atlanta-area spa shootings
Eight people were killed on Tuesday, 16 March 2021, at three massage businesses in the Atlanta area of Georgia. The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, was charged on Wednesday with eight counts of murder and told investigators that he did not have a racial motive. The material this story was compiled from does not say which official or agency disclosed the charges or Long's statement to investigators, and it does not record who released his name. Long is in custody and the incident is not active.
The locations are recorded at venue level: Young's Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, Gold Spa on Piedmont Road in Northeast Atlanta, and Aromatherapy Spa, also in Northeast Atlanta. The city is recorded as "Atlanta area". People were shot at the three businesses within less than an hour on the Tuesday evening. A BBC News article dated the attack on three Atlanta-area massage parlours to that Tuesday.
Cherokee County sheriff's deputies responded to a call at Young's Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth at around 5 p.m., and police found two people dead and three more injured, CNN reported, citing the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office. At around 5:47 p.m., Atlanta police responded to reports of a "business robbery" at Gold Spa on Piedmont Road in Northeast Atlanta, where they found three women dead, according to an Atlanta Police Department press release. The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office released several still photos of the suspected shooter from surveillance footage on Tuesday evening.
Long was taken into custody in Crisp County at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock, who said he was "taken into custody without incident." The Crisp County Sheriff's Office said in a statement posted on Facebook: "A GSP Trooper performed a PIT maneuver around the 93-mile marker. The suspect was arrested without incident and transported to the Crisp County Detention Center," and the office said the Georgia State Patrol trooper's PIT maneuver, around the 93-mile marker, stopped Long's car.
Local officials released the full names of all eight victims on Friday: Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Soon Chung Park, 74; Suncha Kim, 69; Xiaojie Tan, 49; and Yong Ae Yue, 63. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported four of the names — Ashley Yaun, 33; Daoyou Feng, 44; Xiaojie Tan, 49; and Paul Andre Michels, 54 — giving one of them as Ashley Yaun rather than Delaina Ashley Yaun.
Captain Jay Baker, identified as a spokesman for the sheriff's office in Cherokee County and as a spokesman for the Georgia sheriff's office investigating the shootings, said of the suspect, "He apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction," and described the day as "a really bad day." It was announced on Thursday night that Baker had been removed as a spokesman on the case; the material this story was compiled from does not say who made that announcement.
The agencies listed as responding are the Georgia Sheriff's Office, the sheriff's office in Cherokee County, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, the Atlanta Police Department, the Crisp County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, and the Georgia State Patrol / Georgia Department of Public Safety.
President Joe Biden said: "Hate can have no safe harbour in America. It has to stop," adding, "It's on all of us, all of us together, to make it stop." Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said, "Our entire family is praying for the victims of these horrific acts of violence." Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock said, "My heart is broken tonight after the tragic violence in Atlanta that took eight lives." Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said, "This could have been significantly worse." Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said: "We are horrified by the appalling violence committed in Georgia, and extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. This is an unspeakable tragedy, and the latest in a series of attacks against Asian Americans." He added: "It really has been a serious problem. My wife, my three daughters, my grandkids, all Asian, and they've felt some discrimination personally."
Aug 12, 2026, 1:24 a.m. ETFirst report
Eight killed in shootings at Atlanta-area massage businesses; victims' names released
Eight people were killed in shootings at Atlanta-area massage businesses on Tuesday, 16 March 2021, according to reporting by the BBC and The New Yorker. The two outlets describe the location differently: the BBC reported that the attack targeted three Atlanta-area Asian massage parlours, while The New Yorker referred to Young's Asian Massage parlor. Neither account outweighs the other, so both are given here. Atlanta is in Georgia, according to the BBC.
On Friday, local officials released the full names of all eight victims of the attack, according to both outlets. The individual names are not carried in this report. The responding agencies named in reporting are the Georgia Sheriff's Office and the sheriff's office in Cherokee County.
A suspect is in custody, The New Yorker reported. Captain Jay Baker, spokesman for the Georgia Sheriff's Office investigating the shootings, identified the suspect as Robert Aaron Long, the BBC reported. On Wednesday, the suspect was charged with eight counts of murder and told investigators he did not have a racial motive.
Speaking about the suspect, Captain Baker, a spokesman for the sheriff's office in Cherokee County, said: "He apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction," and also described it as "a really bad day." On Thursday night, it was announced that Baker had been removed as a spokesman on the case, according to both outlets. Beyond those statements, investigators have not established a motive on the record.
President Joe Biden said: "Hate can have no safe harbour in America. It has to stop," and added: "It's on all of us, all of us together, to make it stop."
This remains a developing story. Details may change as officials release further information.

Was this report accurate and useful?

Sources

Revision history

Version 216 Aug 2026, 23:56current
Removed the victim names and ages, which are no longer supported by the verified facts; added calendar dates for each weekday, noted HuffPost's city-level location against the venue-level accounts, and named the suspect only once.
Version 112 Aug 2026, 05:24current
First published.
Version 116 Aug 2026, 23:12current
First published.
Version 116 Aug 2026, 22:11
First published.

How we work

This site models an investigative reporter rather than a wire desk. The aim is the most complete, accurate and timely account we can assemble — all three, not a trade between them. Reports go out within minutes of the coverage they are built from, carrying context a newsroom would otherwise need a day and a records request to gather: what has happened at this place before, what the operator’s record is, which aircraft it actually was.

Reports are built from primary sources — accident and court records, official registries, weather observations, agency statements — and from reputable news organisations, each named where their reporting is used. Facts are extracted before anything is written, and every one must be supported by a quotation found in the source itself; the model that writes the report is given only those verified facts and never sees the article, so it cannot introduce a detail no source stated.

Where sources disagree we publish the disagreement, attributed, rather than picking a figure. Where a fact comes from a record rather than a reporter, we say so, and the language matches: an instrument reading is never described as something anyone confirmed. Some things are deliberately withheld — a suspect is not named until an agency names them on the record, victims until families or officials release them — and corrections appear as visible revisions, never as silent edits.

None of that makes a report true. A quotation check proves a source said something, not that it was right, and an automated system can be confidently wrong in ways the checks do not catch. If something here is wrong, the feedback above is how it gets found. The full methodology, including what we refuse to publish.