DALLAS (AP) — Dallas’ police chief mentioned Friday {that a} taking pictures that injured three ladies in a hair salon within the metropolis’s Koreatown might need been a hate crime as he introduced that it may very well be linked to 2 different shootings at companies run by Asian People.
Chief Eddie Garcia had beforehand mentioned police did not have any indication the shooting Wednesday at Hair World Salon was motivated by hate, however he mentioned that had modified as of Friday afternoon.
“The chance that we’re coping with a violent gunman who’s motivated by hate is chilling and deeply disturbing,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson mentioned in a press release Friday.
Authorities are nonetheless looking for a person dressed all in black who opened hearth on the salon, then drove off in a maroon minivan. Garcia mentioned investigators discovered {that a} related car was reported to be concerned in two different current shootings, together with an April 2 drive-by within the space the place the salon is positioned. Nobody was injured in both of these shootings.
“We’re turning to each resident of town of Dallas to maintain an eye fixed out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia mentioned. “Hate has no place right here.”
“We have to get this particular person in custody,” Garcia mentioned.
He mentioned the car was additionally linked to a drive-by taking pictures on Tuesday about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of the purchasing heart the place Wednesday’s taking pictures occurred.
Garcia mentioned police could be growing patrols, and so they had been reaching out to different police departments in North Texas to see if there have been any related incidents of their space. He mentioned Dallas police have additionally reached out to the FBI to allow them to know of the doable connection.
The three ladies who had been shot on the salon had been taken to a hospital with accidents that weren’t life-threatening.
The daughter of one of many injured ladies mentioned her mom informed her that the person, whom she didn’t acknowledge, calmly walked in, opened hearth and left.
John Jun, a founding member of the Dallas-Fort Value chapter of the Korean American Coalition, mentioned he’d hoped that the taking pictures on the salon was an remoted incident.
“Now we’re somewhat extra involved as a result of it looks like they’re concentrating on for positive Asian People and most definitely Korean American companies within the space,” Jun mentioned.
He mentioned the salon is within the coronary heart of Koreatown, which is in part of town that was reworked within the Eighties from an industrial space to a thriving district with purchasing, eating, markets, medical places of work and salons.
“The persons are clearly shaken and they’re on the sting proper now,” Jun mentioned.
Anti-Asian violence has risen sharply lately. Last year, six ladies of Asian descent had been among the many eight killed in a shooting at massage businesses in and close to Atlanta, heightening anger and worry amongst Asian People.
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