ATLANTA (AP) – A man who survived the shooting that killed his wife at a massage business in Atlanta last week said police detained him in handcuffs for four hours after the attack.
Mario Gonzalez said he was kept in a patrol car outside the spa. The revelation, in an interview with Mundo Hispanico, a Spanish-language news site, follows other criticism of Cherokee County officials investigating the March 16 attack that killed four people. Four others were killed about an hour later at two spas in Atlanta.
Gonzalez’s accusation also means that he was detained after police released security footage of the gunman and authorities captured him 150 miles south of Atlanta. He wondered if his treatment by the authorities was due to the fact that he was Mexican.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to an email requesting comments Monday.
Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man, is accused of shooting five people, including Gonzalez’s wife, Delaina Ashley Yaun, at the first crime scene near Woodstock, about 50 miles (50 kilometers) north of Atlanta. A man was injured. In all, seven of the victims killed were women, six of them of Asian descent.
Cherokee Sheriff’s Captain Jay Baker has been removed as spokesman for the case, after telling reporters the day after the shootings that Long had “a very bad day” and “that’s what he did.” A Facebook page that appears to belong to Baker last year promoted a racist T-shirt about China and coronavirus.
Sheriff Frank Reynolds issued a statement acknowledging that some of Baker’s comments sparked “much debate and anger” and said the agency regretted any “heartache” caused by his words.
Gonzalez and Yaun, 33, had taken a babysitter for their daughter and went to Youngs Asian Massage to relax. They were in separate rooms inside when the gunman opened fire.
Gonzalez heard the shots and worried about his wife, but was too afraid to open the door, he told Mundo Hispanico in a video interview.. The deputies arrived in a few minutes. Gonzalez said they put him in the cuffs and held him for about four hours, according to the website.
“They had me in the patrol car all the time investigating who was responsible, who did exactly that,” Gonzalez said in the video.
During the interview with Mundo Hispanico, Gonzalez showed marks on his wrists. “I don’t know if it’s because of the law or because I’m Mexican. The simple truth is that they treated me badly, “he said.
“Only when they finally confirmed to me that I was her husband did they tell me she was dead,” he said. “I wanted to know earlier.”
Left alone to raise his daughter and his wife’s teenage son, Gonzalez said the shooter took “the most important thing I have in my life.”
“He deserves to die, just like the others,” Gonzalez said.
Authorities said the shootings in Cherokee County took place around 5:00 p.m., and immediately after 6:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office posted static images on Facebook of a surveillance camera showing a suspect in the outdoor parking lot. Reynolds said Long’s family recognized him from those images and provided investigators with information about his cell phone, which they used to track him.
Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock said in a video posted on Facebook that evening that his deputies and state soldiers were notified around 8 p.m. that the suspect was approaching them. Deputies and soldiers settled along the highway and saw the 2007 Hyundai Tucson black around 8:30 p.m. A soldier performed a maneuver that caused the vehicle to spiral out of control and Long was taken into custody.
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Associated Press writer Michael Warren contributed to this report.