Shooting at northwest Dallas salon may have been a hate crime

But on Friday, the chief said the department’s stance changed because of the “ongoing investigation and a consistent review of officer reports made by the department’s crime analysis unit.”“Out of an abundance of caution,” García said he has reached out to agencies including the FBI, the North Texas Joint Terrorism Taskforce and other local departments to determine whether any additional crimes in their jurisdictions might be related.The department also has been in contact with local Asian community and business leaders, the Texoma office of the Anti-Defamation League and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson’s hate crime advisory council.In a written statement, Johnson said it was “chilling and deeply disturbing” to know that the shooting may have been a hate crime.“I want our city’s Asian American community — which has appallingly faced increasing vitriol in recent years — to know that the City of Dallas and the people of Dallas stand with them,” the mayor said.State Rep. Rafael Anchía, a Democrat whose district includes the salon, said “Dallas will not tolerate hate toward our Asian community.”Lily Trieu, executive director of the Austin-based advocacy group Asian Texans for Justice, said her organization appreciated that García was listening to the community’s concerns and was looking into whether Wednesday’s shooting was tied to other violence.”We’re relieved that all three victims are safe and in recovery, but this kind of attack makes our entire community feel unsafe,” Trieu said.Charles Park, a Korean American activist based in North Texas, said he thinks Dallas police realized that it was too early to dismiss the shooting as a hate crime.”It’s going to be a long way to solving this issue, but it’s one step in the right direction, I think,” he said.Brian Kim, secretary general of the Greater Dallas Korean American Chamber of Commerce — a group whose main priority is to ensure safety at Korean-owned businesses — said Dallas police should take steps to provide greater security in the area.”If this is a hate crime, we really worry about the security, because there are many Korean businesses on Royal Lane,” Kim said.