The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office on Friday released the names of four women killed in shootings at two Atlanta spas.
They were identified as Soon C. Park, 74; Hyun J. Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; and Yong A. Yue, 63.
Three of the women died from a gunshot wound to the head, and one from gunshot wounds to the chest, the medical examiner’s office said. All four deaths were ruled homicides.
The victims were among eight people who were killed when a gunman opened fire Tuesday at two spas in Atlanta and one north of the city in Cherokee County.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office identified those victims as Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Tan, 49; and Daoyou Feng, 44. One man, Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, was wounded.
Six of the people killed were of Asian descent, officials said. The deaths happened the same day the reporting forum Stop AAPI Hate released a report saying reports of anti-Asian hate incidents have risen significantly. The report said a disproportionate number of the incidents involved women.
In a tweet Tuesday, the organization said the shootings were an “unspeakable tragedy.”
A 21-year-old white man from Woodstock was arrested shortly after the shootings. He’s been charged with eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.
Authorities have said the suspect’s remarks indicated that he might have had a sexual addiction and that he saw the spas as a temptation he needed to eliminate.
Investigators have said, however, that they are not ruling out the possibility of a racial motive.
It was unclear if the businesses had any ties to sex work. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said this week that the spas were “legally operating businesses that have not been on our radar” and that “we are not about to get into victim blaming, victim shaming here.”
“A crime against any community is a crime against us all,” she said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
