Atlanta Shootings: Video Shows Suspect Parking in Front of Spa

(Photo : Getty Images/Megan Varner)
ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 19: People bring flowers to the memorial sight set up outside of The Gold Spa on March 19, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. Mourners have gathered across the United States to pay respect to the Asian community after suspect Robert Aaron Long, 21, attacked three spas killing eight people, six of whom were Asian.

A video related to the recent Atlanta shootings, which Gabby's boutique made available to CNN, captured a Hyundai pulling into a parking lot. From a surveillance video issued by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office on the day of the incident in Cherokee County, northeast Atlanta, the parking lot, vehicle, and other indicators matched its stills.

Video of Atlanta Shootings Suspect Before the Incident

Twenty-one-year-old Robert Aaron Long is being held in association with the shootings at the Young's Asian Spa near Woodstock. This was where four people were killed. In two spas in Atlanta, four Asian women were also gunned down. Long claimed to be accountable for the shootings, according to the sheriff's office in Cherokee County. He faces four counts of murder with malice, one count of aggravated assault, one count of attempted murder, and five counts of using a firearm while committing a felony.

The surveillance footage captured Long driving up to and walking towards one of three area spas where he reportedly gunned and killed eight people on Tuesday. He left a little over an hour later. Six of the eight were Asian-Americans, while another man was injured, reported Yahoo.

The video's timestamp displayed Long parking his SUV outside of Young's around 2:37 p.m. on Tuesday. The Woodstock native sat in his vehicle for the succeeding hour directly in front of the business establishment, reported CBS 46.

The footage displayed him leaving the SUV at 3:37 p.m. He then walked toward the Atlanta spa. He was also displayed in the video struggling with something on his back or side.

Georgia Massage Parlor Shootings Leave 8 Dead

Long was arrested on Tuesday in a traffic stop 150 miles south of Atlanta. He admitted to police he believed he had a sex addiction and saw the spas as a subject of temptation he wanted to eliminate, according to Capt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office. However, Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant has stated it remains too early to know a motive. According to Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace, the probing is ongoing, and adequate charges will be set forth, reported CNN.

The 21-year-old was indicted with eight counts of murder for the shootings at two Atlanta businesses, Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa, which are across the street from each other, and Young's Asian Massage in Cherokee County, which is on Atlanta's north. At 4:50 p.m., Long is witnessed returning to the SUV and immediately driving off. Cherokee County Sheriff's deputies arrived a few moments after.

Numerous mourners gathered outside of Young's on Thursday night at a vigil for the eight victims. According to Brittany Bengert, the vigil's organizer, "Surely, we can all agree that the streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight."

According to Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds, who was among those present in the ceremony, "This just doesn't happen here, and I just want our community to know, the world to know we're better than this," Reynolds said. "I'm sorry for the tragic loss of life but we are committed to providing a safe community and getting a solid conviction on this. You have my promise."