Some victims identified in massage parlor shootings

Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, leaves behind a 13-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter. She was at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor north of Atlanta with her husband for a date when a gunman shot several people. Authorities released the names of the victims from one of the locations of the Tuesday shooting spree at three massage parlors that left eight people dead. Other victims included 49-year-old Xiaojie Tan, who owned the parlor, 44-year-old Paul Andre Michels, and 44-year-old Daoyou Feng.

What about the other victims? Three more women died at Gold Spa in Atlanta, and another woman was fatally shot at Aromatherapy Spa across the street. Six of the seven female victims were Asian. Authorities have charged 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long with murder and assault in connection with the shootings. Long told the officers he had a “sex addiction” and said he targeted the spas to eliminate temptation. It’s unclear if Long had been to the particular locations before or if customers could access sex at the businesses. Police had not previously gone to any of the massage parlors except to investigate a potential theft. Deputy Atlanta Police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said Thursday that “nothing is off the table” in the shooting investigation, including the possibility of classifying it as a hate crime.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in The Sift about the shooting.