Police Chief Eddie Garcia said Friday that the shooting, which injured three Korean women at a hair salon in northwest Dallas, could be a hate crime – a day after he said police ruled out hate as a factor.
A man fired multiple shots Wednesday at the Royal Lane’s 2200 hair salon before fleeing in a red minivan. Three employees in the hall were hit and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. One customer was inside and unharmed.
At a news conference at police headquarters, Garcia said the shooting could be linked to at least two other crimes targeting the city’s Asian community.
The first took place on April 2, also in block 2200 of Royal Lane, near Interstate 35E, where three Asian companies were shot, but no one was injured. Witnesses say the driver fled in a red minivan.
And on Tuesday, a man believed to be driving a Bordeaux van was shot dead in an Asian-run business on Block 4800 on Sunnyvale Street, near East Ledbetter Drive in East Oak Cliff. Three people were inside, but no one was injured, police said.
Broken mirror in the hair salon on Thursday. (Rebecca Slezak / full-time photographer)
Garcia said Thursday that authorities have carried out their due diligence and that police can “confidently say that hatred is not a motivating factor” in Wednesday’s shooting. But on Friday, the chief said the department’s position had changed due to “the ongoing investigation and consistent review of employee reports made by the department’s crime analysis department.”
“As a precaution,” Garcia said, he approached agencies, including the FBI, the North Texas Joint Counter-Terrorism Task Force and other local departments, to determine if any additional crimes in their jurisdictions could be linked.
The department is also in contact with the local Asian community and business leaders, the Anti-Defamation League’s Texoma office and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson’s advisory board on hate crimes.
In a written statement, Johnson said it was “chilling and deeply disturbing” to know that the shooting could have been a hate crime.
“I want the Asian American community in our city – which has been horribly confronted with the growing riot in recent years – to know that the city of Dallas and the people of Dallas are with them,” the mayor said.
Lily Trieu, executive director of the Austin-based advocacy group Asian Texans for Justice, said her organization appreciated Garcia’s listening to community concerns and investigating whether Wednesday’s shooting was linked to other violence.
“We are relieved that all three victims are safe and recovering, but this type of attack makes our whole community feel insecure,” Trieu said.
Dallas police said the person depicted in the image is believed to have shot dead three women at a hair salon on Block 2200 on Royal Lane. (Dallas Police Department)
Charles Park, a Korean-American activist based in North Texas, said he believed Dallas police had realized it was too early to dismiss the shooting as a hate crime.
“It will be a long road to solving this problem, but I think it is a step in the right direction,” he said.
Brian Kim, secretary general of the Korean-American Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, a group whose top priority is to ensure the safety of Korean businesses, said Dallas police must take steps to ensure greater security in the area.
“If it’s a hate crime, we’re really worried about security because there are a lot of Korean companies on Royal Lane,” Kim said. “They want to be safe and secure.”
Going forward, Garcia said the department would use surveillance camera trailers and increasing patrols in certain areas that have been or could be targeted.
Police described Wednesday’s shooter as 5-7 to 5-10, with a lean physique, curly, medium-long hair and a beard. He was dressed entirely in black, police said.
The police chief said authorities were sharing information about the potential motive for the shooting, hoping it would provoke enough action to lead to his arrest.
“We appeal to every citizen in the city of Dallas to monitor and protect our city,” he said. “Hate has no place here. “If you see something, say something.”
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