St. Paul PD stepping up patrols to protect Asian community after Atlanta attacks

Fox9.com ^ | 3/17/2021 | FOX 9 Staff/AP

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The St. Paul Police Department says it is increasing patrols around schools, businesses and neighborhoods where Asian community members gather after a series of attacks in Atlanta that left eight people dead, most of whom were of Asian descent.

A 21-year-old white man is accused of shooting and killing eight people at three different massage parlors in the Atlanta area Tuesday night, the Associated Press reported. Six of the victims were identified as Asian and seven were women.

Attacks on Asian Americans have increased over the last year, coinciding with the spread of COVID-19 in the United States and misinformation surrounding the coronavirus, which was first identified in China. Authorities say they are investigating whether Tuesday’s deadly shootings were hate crimes.

The St. Paul Police Department says it has not received any threats of violence against businesses or groups of people in the city, but Chief Todd Axtell has reached out to leaders in the city’s Asian community to "listen to concerns and offer support."

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Facepalm.

[gundog]

Undercover cops are loitering in all of the massage parlors.

[proust]

Didn’t they catch the guy?

[Liaison]

The idiot in hot’lanta was mentally unstable and as usual a police department with delusions themselves have to play the hero narrative for the press and the politicians. If you want to raise your level of protection do it quietly so that you don’t scare away the people you are trying to catch.

[dynachrome]

Many volunteers?

[gundog]

Probably.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

In Atlanta? Yeah.

[familyop]

Apparently, his motive was not anti-Asian, but he’s being further interrogated in efforts to establish that it was.

Robert Aaron Long Identified as Suspect in Atlanta-Area Asian Spa Shootings
Heavy.com
By Alyssa Choiniere
Updated Mar 18, 2021
https://heavy.com/news/robert-aaron-long/

[Excerpt:]
“...the suspect claimed his goal was to eliminate temptation.

Long claimed to have a ‘sex addiction,’ investigators said during a Wednesday morning press conference.

‘He sees these locations as… a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate,’ Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jay Baker said.
[...]
Baker said officials asked Long directly if he had racist motives, and Long denied this. However, the investigation continues to determine an official motive in the case, officials said, emphasizing they are ‘very early’ in the investigation. Long took responsibility for the shooting, officials said.”

[familyop]

The suspected murder weapon is a 9mm pistol. Several British news outlets are reporting the same.

What we know about the Atlanta spa shooter who police say wanted to do more violence in Florida
WTSP 10, Tampa Bay CBS
Author: Kristen Reed
Published: 1:39 PM EDT March 17, 2021
Updated: 12:36 AM EDT March 18, 2021
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/crime/atlanta-spa-shooting-suspect-was-headed-to-florida/85-376c460c-eea7-4a3b-a823-f3fb5cc29d76

[Excerpt:]
“Two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter tell NBC News that the gun Long used in yesterday’s shooting spree was purchased legally and it was purchased yesterday prior to the shooting.

Georgia law enforcement officials said they were confident it was a 9mm handgun that was used in the shooting and that it was the only handgun they have found so far.”