Dallas police are investigating three shootings at Asian-owned businesses as possibly connected and motivated by hate.
As detectives work to find whoever is responsible, the Korean community in North Texas is preparing for an update on the investigation during a safety meeting on Monday.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said Friday that three shootings at Asian-owned businesses may be connected. The most recent happening Wednesday in the heart of Koreatown in the Asian Trade District neighborhood in northwest Dallas.
Police say a gunman walked into Hair World Salon in the 2200 block of Royal Lane and shot three women.
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Garcia said someone drove by a shopping center at 2208 Royal Lane on April 2 and fired shots at three businesses that were Asian-owned. On May 10, someone drove by other Asian-owned businesses at 4849 Sunnyvale Street in east Oak Cliff and fired shots at the buildings. Three people were in the back part of the business and were not injured.
Witnesses have described the same type of vehicle at all three shootings, a dark red or maroon minivan.
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On Sunday, Carrollton PD placed officers at two predominantly Korean churches and added extra patrols and surveillance near Korean-owned businesses.
The effort mirrored the added high visibility presence just 8 miles south by Dallas police near businesses in the area around Stemmons Freeway and Royal Lane.
Senior Pastor Daniel Park at New Song Church in Carrollton said he was appreciative of police offering their presence at all worship services.
“It is a very genuine and sincere gesture that we are so grateful for,” Park said.
A community safety meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Korean Cultural Center of Dallas at 11500 N. Stemmons Freeway.
Park says he expects many members of the Asian-American Pacific Islander community to attend the meeting, describing the concern surrounding the shootings as “like a wildfire everyone is talking about.”
