Little information has emerged about the 21-year-old from Woodstock, about a half-hour trip north of Atlanta.
He is currently being held in custody in Cherokee County, where he faces four counts of murder and a charge of assault, according to the county sheriff’s office. More costs are possible.
They were shot Tuesday at two spas in Atlanta and another in Acworth, about 10 miles west of Woodstock – leaving eight, at least four of them Asian women, dead.
The four killed in the shooting near Woodstock were Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, of Acworth; Paul Andre Michels, 54, of Atlanta; Xiaojie Yan, 49, of Kennesaw; and Daoyou Feng, 44.
The survivor was Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, 30, of Acworth, authorities said.
Authorities located Long about 150 miles south of Atlanta in Crisp County. He was arrested by state soldiers after using a special hand-held device to bring his car out of control.
The suspect “assumed responsibility for the shootings,” Capt. Said Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
Suspicion was treated for sexual slavery
Sheriff Frank Reynolds of Cherokee County, where the shootings were acquired at Acworth, told Long reporters “indicating that he has some cases – possibly sexual slavery – and may have visited in some of these places in the past. “
Reynolds said those issues could be the motivation behind the shooting.
A law enforcement source said the suspect was kicked out of the house by his family because of his sexual slavery, which, the source said, involved spending hours frequently watch porn online.
According to an incident report from The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, a 911 caller, said the suspect could be a son and “has an administrator on his phone.” Another anonymous caller to 911 said the suspect went an suspicion that was “kicked out of his parents’ house last night,” adding that he was “emotional,” the incident report says.
It is not clear whether the industries affected by this were the places of sex work. At a press conference Tuesday, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said the businesses were “operating legally” and had not been on the radar of the Atlanta Police Department before.
“We’re not going to take the blame for victims, shaking victims, here. As far as we know in Atlanta, we haven’t received 911 calls from the place I believe one small call of someone stealing keys, “Bottoms said. “So we don’t know more information about his motives, but of course we won’t start blaming victims.”
Tyler Bayless said he shared a housing unit with Long at Maverick Recovery, a resettlement facility in Roswell, Georgia, between August 2019 and January or February 2020. He said most residents were suffered from drug or alcohol addiction, but Long was treated for sexual slavery.
“It was something that would definitely torment him,” Bayless said. He described Long as “a very religious man – he often went on about his interpretation of the Bible,” and was saddened by his contribution to sex.
Bayless said Long told him many times during his stay at the facility that he had “rebroadcast” and “gone to massage runners specifically to get involved in acts.” feise. ”
After hearing that Long was the suspect in the shootings, Bayless said he was surprised his partner would make such a room.
Mason Clements, who is listed as the registered agent of Maverick Recovery in business films, said in a text message “I can’t comment on any client in the past, in the past future or future due to confidentiality agreements. “
Another longtime partner of Long also told CNN that Long had been in rehab for sexual slavery, and that in the summer of 2020 he had been living with Long at a transfer house for him. persons leaving relocation, although he refused to name the facility or the state in which its distribution is located. He said he had not spoken to Long “in the near future.”
He identified Long from the investigative film released by authorities, he said, and Cherokee County entertainment records recorded the old room called police Tuesday night.
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to CNN that they had removed an Instagram account that the company believed was linked to Long.
The account had been inactive for some time, the spokesman said.
A screenshot of the account, obtained by CNN, showed that he used the name “Aaron Long” and read the bio section title, “Pizza, guns, drums, music, family, and God. give up my life. a very good life. “
Long told police the shootings were “not racially motivated,” according to Baker, of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. Baker also referred to Long’s “sex addition”, saying that Long sees the spas as a “temple” that he “wanted to destroy.” “
According to two law enforcement sources involved in the investigation, he tried for a long time to justify what he did when he told police he was thinking of killing himself. , but instead decided to “help others with sexual slavery by targeting spas.
Investigators believe that when he was arrested, he may have a long way to go to Florida to fire more, Lance Bottoms told reporters.
A gun was legally purchased
Long had a 9 mm firearm in his car when he was arrested, Baker said.
Long legally bought his gun at a local gun store, Big Woods Goods in Holly Springs, Georgia, a lawyer for the company confirmed to CNN.
In a brief statement to CNN, Matt Kilgo said the company is fully cooperating with law enforcement and there is no indication that anything was inappropriate with Tuesday ‘s move.
It was Long’s family that turned him on Tuesday, Reynolds said, revealing to so-called parents the police after they saw investigation scenes posted by authorities to social media.
“We had suspicions with family members revealing that they may have been the son, so we met with them,” Reynolds said. “They were very concerned, and they were very helpful in this situation.”
As soon as investigators identified Long, the sheriff said, they found a look at his phone and were anticipating his movements, leading to his arrest in Crisp County.
CNN went to Long’s grandparents’ home in Ballymore, Tennessee, on Wednesday.
“I’m just saying we’re a granddaughter and we still love him dearly,” said Long’s grandmother, Margaret Long, who was obviously upset. Long’s grandfather interrupted the conversation, saying they had been told not to speak to anyone and did not comment further.
In his mugshot, Long is wearing a suicide prevention suit as a precautionary measure, which is normal, said Crisp County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Haley Little.
CNN’s Matt Gannon, Julia Griggs, Gregory Lemos, Jamiel Lynch and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.