After Spa Attacks, Officers Handcuffed Victim’s Anguished Husband for Four Hours

ACWORTH, Ga. — Mario González heard the gunfire from inside Young’s Asian Massage and immediately worried about his wife, who was in another room. But before he could check on her, he said, law enforcement officials handcuffed and detained him for about four hours while they worked to determine the identity of the gunman.

During that time, officers told him: His wife, Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, had been killed.

Mr. González described the March 16 shooting and the confused hours that followed in a video interview and news story published by the Spanish-language news site Mundo Hispánico. He expressed his frustration with law enforcement officials for detaining him, suggesting that he might have been treated poorly because he is Latino, and shared his anguish over the loss of his wife.

“They took away the most precious thing that I have in my life,” Mr. González said of the gunman, before stopping himself and correcting tenses. “That I had.”

The attack at Young’s Asian Massage was part of a shooting spree at three spas in and around Atlanta. Ms. Yaun was among eight people killed by a gunman who intentionally targeted employees at those businesses, law enforcement officials said.

began his rampage shortly before 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Young’s, which is wedged in a small shopping center between a boutique and hair salon.

Atlanta massage parlor shootings. The suspect’s motives are under investigation, but Asian communities across the United States are on alert because of a surge in attacks against Asian-Americans over the past year.

A torrent of hate and violence against Asian-Americans around the U.S. began last spring, in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Community leaders say the bigotry was spurred by the rhetoric of former President Trump, who referred to the coronavirus as the “China virus.”

In New York, a wave of xenophobia and violence has been compounded by the economic fallout of the pandemic, which has dealt a severe blow to New York’s Asian-American communities. Many community leaders say racist assaults are being overlooked by the authorities.

In January, an 84-year-old man from Thailand was violently slammed to the ground in San Francisco, resulting in his death at a hospital two days later. The attack, captured on video, has become a rallying cry.