Jamie Stengel
Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas police chief said the shooting in which three women were injured at a hair salon in the city’s Koreatown may have been a hate crime, as he announced it could be linked to two other Asian-American-run businesses. related to the shooting incident.
Chief Eddie Garcia had previously said police had no indication that the May 11 shooting at the Hair World salon was motivated by hate, but said that changed two days later.
“The possibility that we are dealing with a violent, hate-motivated gunman is chilling and deeply disturbing,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said in a statement.
Authorities are still searching for a black-clad man who shot Sharon before leaving in a maroon van. Garcia said investigators found that a similar vehicle was reportedly involved in two other recent shootings, including a drive-by on April 2 in the area where the salon is located. No one was injured in the two shootings.
“We are turning to every resident of the City of Dallas to keep an eye out and protect our city,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place here.”
“We need to detain this person,” Garcia said.
The vehicle was also implicated in a May 10 drive-by shooting about 25 miles southeast of the mall where the shooting took place on May 11, he said.
Garcia said police will increase patrols and they are contacting other North Texas police departments to see if similar incidents have occurred in their area. Dallas police have also contacted the FBI to let them know of a possible connection, he said.
The three women shot in the salon were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The daughter of one of the injured women said her mother told her that the man, whom she did not know, walked in peacefully and shot away.
John Jun, a founding member of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Korean American League, said he hoped the salon shooting was an isolated incident.
“Right now we’re a little concerned because they seem to be targeting certain Asian-American and most likely Korean-American businesses in the area,” Jun said.
The salon is located in the heart of Koreatown, which in the 1980s transformed from an industrial area to a bustling district with shopping, dining, markets, medical offices and salons, he said.
“People are clearly shaken, they’re on the edge now,” Jun said.
Anti-Asian violence has risen sharply in recent years. Last year, a shooting at a massage parlor in and around Atlanta that killed eight people, including six Asian women, fueled Asian-American anger and fear.
