rodney bryant, interim police chief in atlanta, where the killings spread between two spas. >> i thinkhought it was all wrapped up once we made the arrest. but now this is where the real work begins. >> what do you think about the chances of this becoming a hate crimes case? >> it's just too early for me to make that determination. because there's so many questions that are left unanswered. you have to look at the victims that we had in the city of atlanta. all our victims were female, all our victims were asian. there's so much more that needs to be uncovered. >> reporter: the tone is slightly different in the suburbs where the first four victims died and where the accused killer is in custody. >> it's still early, but he does claim it was not racially motivated. >> reporter: the sheriff's office in the suburbs is having to defend itself after their spokesperson came across to some as racially insensitive, saying this about the accused gunman. >> he was pretty muchlv fed up,t the end of his rope, yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did. >> reporter: after that i

police chief rodney bryant. >> it appears... >> reporter: authorities are searching for a suspect.hey were called to the scene by a spa attendant. >> three people shot and killed at one location, and one person shot and killed at another location. >> reporter: the atlanta attack comes hours after a shooting that killed three people in cherokee, georgia. the sheriff's department posted these photos of a man threeg fleeing in a black car. the man is now in custody. the shootings appear to have targeted asians, as nationwide concerns have skyrocketed about attacks towards asian-americans during the coronavirus pandemic. n >> o'donnell: and there are two ikki battiste, new york. >> o'donnell: there are two major headlines in the race to vaccinate. >> o'donnell: and there are two major headlines tonight in the race to vaccinate. overseas, more european countries halted the use of the astrazeneca shot as they experience a frightening new surge of cases. and right here in the u.s., the first young children got vaccinated in a new trial. we're going to cover it all in our two reports, star

rodney bryant was asked about a motive. >> we have received a number of calls about is this a hate crime. we are still early in this investigation. we cannot make that determination at this moment. >> the georgia shootings do follow a wave of unprovoked attacks across the country of people of asian descent. president biden has just been briefed. vice president kamala harris also addressing the terrible shootings. >> we don't know, we are not yet clear about the motives. i want to say to our asian communities we stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked all people. >> and the shootings condemned. >> i want to mention what happened just a few hours ago in atlanta in which several women were killed, including, we believe, four women of asian descent. we are horrified. >> counterterrorism agents were sent to atlanta out of new york city out of an abundance of caution. i am joined with correspondents who have been working on the case. blaine, first to you, what is the latest? >> we have a lot of information from the news conference but there are a number of questions l

rodney bryant is the interim police chief in atlanta where the killings spread between two spas. >> i think the people thought it was all wrapped up once we made the arrest buck now this is where the real work begins. >> what do you think about the chances of this becoming a hate crimes case? >> it's just too early for me to make that determination, because there are so many questions that are left unanswered. you have to look at the victims that we have in the city of atlanta. all our victims were female. all our victims were asian. there's so much more that needs to be uncovered. >> reporter: the tone is different in the suburbs where the first victims died and the accused killer is in custody. >> he does claim it was not racially motivated. >> reporter: the sheriff's office in the suburbs is having to develop himself after their spokesperson came across to sound racially insensitive after saying this about the gunman. >> he was pretty much fed up and at the end of his rope, and yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did. >> reporter: after that it was a bad day

marcell works at a nearby police and rodney bryant, the police chief, was at the scene monitoring the. >> a few hours ago, we just heard numerous gunshots coming from across the street. they wouldn't let us out. i wanted to know what is going on. my car is out here. i wanted to make sure everyone is safe. they weren't letting us out. >> we have confirmed three people shot and killed at one location and three at the other location. >> police say nothing appears to have been stolen but they say 2 of the 4 people killed here in cherokee county were asian women and atlanta police say all four of the women killed in atlanta were asian. so investigators confirm they are investigating the possibility that these crimes might have been racially motivated. but that is just one aspect of an investigation that is just getting under way. kasie? >> our thanks to john sherick for that report. >>> last week the president condemned this violence in his address. we may hear him address the issue again when he and the vice president visit atlanta on friday to promote the covid relief package. >>> presid

rodney bryant was asked about a

we had joining us chief rodney bryant from the atlanta police department, deputy chief charles hamptona police department, lieutenant mark riley from the georgia state president, captain jay baker from cherokee county sheriff's office, fbi special agent in charge charles hacker, kirk i irkskin from the northern district of georgia. you won't hear from all of them, but will hear from some of them this morning to provide additional details. yesterday was a tragic day across our state. as many of you all know, there were several victims who were tragically killed yesterday. our thoughts and prayers remain with those families. whether it's senseless violence we've seen play out in our streets or more targeted violence like we saw yesterday, a crime against any community is a crime against us all. i've been in contact with the white house. i spoke with someone last night and again this morning. of course, president biden offers his full support and concern to our great state, and the white house has offered to support us with any additional resources and support we need as we continue, not

interim atlanta police chief rodney bryant was at the scene monitoring the investigation. >> since 12ing from across the street. they wouldn't let us out. of course i want to know what's going on. my car is out here. i want to make sure everyone is safe. they weren't letting us out. >> since we have do confirmed three people shot and killed at one location, one person shot across the street and killed at that location. right now it appears that all the female -- it appears that all victims are female. >> reporter: detectives are not discussing any possible motive. they say nothing appears to have been stolen but say two of the four people killed here in their key county were asian women and atlanta police say all four of the women killed in atlanta were asian. so investigators confirm they are investigating the possibility that these crimes might have been racially motivated. but that's just one aspect of an investigation that is just getting under way. >> our thanks to john shirek for that report. again, we don't know the motive of these attacks yet, but they do come amid an increase