Family of Atlanta shooting victim questions gunman’s stated motive

The son of Hyun Jung Grant, who was among eight people killed during a shooting rampage targeting Georgia spas this week, on Friday admitted that he questions suspect Robert Aaron Long’s motive for allegedly killing his mother and other victims.

Randy Park, Grant’s 23-year-old son, in an interview with ABC News, stated that Long’s explanation that he was allegedly motivated to carry out the shooting at three spas in the Atlanta area on Tuesday due to a sex addiction did not make sense to him.

“I believe two of the locations were next to each other down the street and the [other] one was in some other county … Like a good drive away. If you blame it on sex addiction, but you choose to target specifically Asian locations and the victims being mostly of Asian descent, I can’t help but … ask, ‘Does that make sense?’” Park told ABC News. “No, of course not.”

Long, who on Wednesday was arrested and charged with murder in connection to the incident, denied that the attacks were racially motivated. He admitted that he chose to target the spas because they were a “temptation” to his alleged sex “addiction.” 

Tuesday’s shootings marked the latest incident amid an increase in violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Park noted that he had been advised not to speak on the situation, however, he says he felt a duty to acknowledge the continued violence.

“How many years has it been and these things still happen,” he said. “It is difficult and I do feel like I have a responsibility to speak on this. So even if there is a backlash, I understand why, but I think that may point to some sort of tolerance for what’s happening and that’s unacceptable.”