Lawmakers pay respects to victims of spa shootings

ATLANTA (WRDW/WAGT) - In Atlanta, members of Congress visited the sites where a gunman killed eight people, including six Asian women.

The lawmakers included members of the East-Asian Pacific-American Caucus.

They laid flowers and paid their respects at each location over the weekend.

The lawmakers said they wanted to experience the shooter’s roughly 30-mile trip from Cherokee County to Atlanta on March 16 and raise awareness about increased hostility faced by Asian Americans.

And they demanded that prosecutors charge the suspect with a hate crime. Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man, is facing murder charges in the attacks.