Who was Paul Andre Michels? Army vet's twin John says spa shooting victim would 'loan you money if you needed it'
54-year-old Paul Andre Michels, a handyman at Young's Asian Spa was one of the eight who were killed in the spa shootings in Atlanta on Tuesday at the hands of the suspect Robert Aaron Long, 21. Paul was an Army veteran who had a business of installing security systems in Atlanta. He was the only male of white descent that was killed in this tragic incident along with another White woman and six Asian-American women.
Paul's brother John has now come forward to speak about his brother that was killed in cold blood. He is of the opinion that his brother was at the spa to fix something and might have also indulged in a conversation with the spa owner to know about the ropes of the business. After leaving the military, Paul followed John who was doing low-voltage electric work in Atlanta. For the past couple of months, his job had become even less rewarding and he was seeking a change - an aspiration that was shot down along with him.
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Who was Paul Andre Michels?
Paul Andre Michels was born in the late '60s and raised in Detroit where he was the seventh of nine children. He had enlisted in the Army after finishing his high school education in the late 80s but after a few years in service, he decided to move to Atlanta. It was 1995, his brother John was working a job doing low-voltage electric work, installing phones and security systems. Paul found this to be a lucrative area of work and followed in John's footsteps, found his footing, and established his own business of home security.
Paul had been eyeing a career change because of a downfall in the number of people who were availing his services. He had taken up a job as a handyman for the spa to keep things stable, financially, because he had been out of work for some time. Kikiana Whidby, a friend of the Michels family revealed Paul's plans to own a spa of his own. "He had been out of work for a while and this was something that came to him and he was really excited about," she said.
Who is Paul Andre Michel's brother John?
John was born two and a half years after Paul and was the closest to him than all of his other siblings. “Even though we’re not biological twins, we were basically twins. We hung out and did endless everything together,” he said. John knew about his brother's plans to enter the massage therapy business and that Paul was "actually transitioning into owning a spa." Speaking about Paul, he noted that his age was making it difficult for him to continue his job as a handyman. "You get to a point where you get tired of climbing up and down ladders,” John said. “He was actually looking to start his own massage spa. That’s what he was talking about last year.”
During the conversation, Paul described his brother as a "very good man" who wouldn't think twice before helping someone in need. “He was a good, hard-working man who would do what he could do to help people,” he said. “He’d loan you money if you needed it sometimes. You never went away from his place hungry.”
Who is Paul Andre Michels widow Bonnie?
Paul Andre Michels met his wife Bonnie after leaving the military and moving to the Atlanta area and the two were married for 20 years. Bonnie is a worker at The Juicy Crab in Tucker, Georgia. Her manager Brittany Alshaibani has now started a GoFundMe page in order to support the Michels and raise funds for the family. So far 797 donors have contributed to the fundraiser and a total of $23,652 have been raised of the $50,000 goal. You can access the campaign here.
