ATLANTA –Eight people, many of them women of Asian descent, have been killed in shootings at spas in the United States’ state of Georgia.
Police said the shootings took place at a massage parlour in Acworth and two spas in the city itself.
South Korea confirmed that four of the victims were of Korean descent.
Officials said a 21-year-old man had been arrested and was believed to be the suspect in all of the attacks.
However, hate crimes against Asian-Americans spiked in recent months, fuelled by rhetoric that blames them for the spread of coronavirus disease 2019.
In an address last week, President Joe Biden condemned “vicious hate crimes against Asian-Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed, and scapegoated.”(BBC)
