2023-05-08 07:53:00
Korean couple in their 30s, 3-year-old child died… 5-year-old in critical condition
33-year-old gunman suspected of extreme ideology ‘hate crime’
On the 6th (local time), it was confirmed that three members of a Korean-American family were among the victims of a shooting spree at a shopping mall in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, USA. The police are investigating the case with the possibility of a hate crime caused by ‘white supremacy’ in mind. The Korean community was in great shock.
According to the Dallas branch of the Consulate General in Houston on the 7th, a shooting spree occurred at an outlet located in Allen, a small town outside of Dallas the previous afternoon, in which a Korean couple in their 30s, Mr. Jo and Mr. Kang, and their 3-year-old child lost their lives. The couple’s other child, a 5-year-old, was seriously injured and is being treated in hospital. The family, who live in Dallas, were reported to have been disastrous while out shopping for the weekend.
Local Korean media reported that the couple worked as lawyers and dentists, respectively, and had a good reputation in the community. As the outlet where the incident occurred was a shopping mall frequented by Koreans, it is known that the Korean community in Texas was in shock.
According to local media in the United States, a man opened fire as soon as he got out of his car in the parking lot in front of the outlet the day before, killing eight people and injuring at least seven others. The shooter was also shot and killed by police at the scene. Local police identified the culprit as Mauricio Garcia, a 33-year-old man, and so far they believe he was the sole culprit.
He appears to have received professional firearms training while working as a security guard. At the time of the crime, he was carrying an AR-15 weapon, and his vest was loaded with ammunition. Five more guns were also found in a nearby car.
The specific motive for the crime is not yet known, but authorities are investigating the possibility of a ‘hate crime’, believing that the shooter was immersed in extreme ideologies such as white supremacy and neo-Nazi. According to the Washington Post (WP), officials in the investigation revealed that he was wearing an insignia with “RWDS,” an abbreviation for “Right Wing Death Squad,” written on his chest. RWDS became known as a phrase popular among right-wing extremists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
It was reported that Garcia’s SNS contained numerous extreme and violent racial and ethnic posts, including neo-Nazi-related materials and posts advocating white supremacy. However, since the shooter is already dead, authorities are focusing their investigation on whether there are accomplices who helped him.
This is the second-largest mass shooting in the United States this year, and the third mass shooting in Texas this year.
President Joe Biden said, “This is not the first time that a person armed with an assault weapon has shot innocent people in a shopping mall.”
However, despite President Biden’s continuous demand for strengthening gun control, it is not easy to enact practical legislation due to opposition from the Republican Party. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said in a statement that “the state is ready to provide whatever support the Allen District needs,” but told Fox News he would not enact tougher gun laws in Texas.
Hate crimes targeting Asians, including Koreans, are on the rise after the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, there was a shooting incident targeting an Asian spa in Atlanta, killing four Koreans. Last year, there was a shooting incident by hate crime at a beauty salon in Dallas Koreatown, and three Koreans were injured. According to U.S. census statistics, the Dallas and Fort Worth areas in Texas have the highest growth rate of Asians among major U.S. cities in recent years. About 19% of Allen’s total population of 105,000 is Asian, 10% black, and 11% Hispanic.
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