USA, shootings in Atlanta: eight dead, 21-year-old arrested

WASHINGTON. Eight people were killed, including at least six women of Asian descent, in three shootings in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. Police reported that four of the victims were killed in a massage center in Acworth, a northern suburb of Atlanta, and four more in two spas in the city. A 21-year-old young man suspected of being the perpetrator of all three attacks was arrested. The motive for the shootings is still unclear, although hate crimes against Asian minorities have seen a rapid increase in recent months, fueled by the rhetoric of Asians responsible for the spread of Covid-19. In a message last week, President Joe Biden addressed the problem, condemning the “heinous hate crimes against Asian Americans attacked, harassed, blamed and used as scapegoats.”