At least 8 people were killed in the United States in three shootings in Asian wellness centres and massage parlours in and around Atlanta.
Most of the victims are said to be women of Asian descent. Police have arrested a 21-year-old suspect who holds them responsible for all three shootings. It is not yet clear what his motive would be.
At around 5:00 pm local time, the first shooting occurred in Acworth, about 30 miles north of Atlanta. In an Asian massage salon, 5 people were shot. Two of them died on the spot, and two others died later in a hospital.
An hour later, Atlanta police received a call for a robbery at a Buckhead ward wellness centre. Officers found the bodies of three women there. Shortly afterwards, in a wellness centre on the other side of the street, they discovered the body of another woman; she too had been shot.
Police Chief Rodney Bryant told AP news agency that the victims in Atlanta are of Asian descent. Also, in Acworth, two Asian women were among the dead.
Based on camera images, the police arrested a suspect for the shooting in Acworth around 8:30 pm. After a manhunt, police intercepted Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old man from Woodstock, in Crisp County, 150 miles south of Atlanta.
The police have strong indications that the suspect is also responsible for the two shootings in Atlanta, partly because his car can also be seen on camera images near the affected wellness centres.