DALLAS — In May, John Park received one of the worst calls of his life.
Park, a physician in New York, picked up the phone and heard screaming on the other end. It was his mother back home in Texas. Panicked, she told him she had been shot.
“I thought that that was going to be her last moment,” Park said. “I literally thought that would be the last moment that I speak to her, so I was tremendously terrified.”
Park’s mother was one of three Korean women injured in what Dallas police have called a hate crime. His mother, who has not been publicly identified, was shot in her gluteal area. Another victim was shot in the arm, and the third injured both of her feet.
More than a month later, the victims and their families continue to grapple with the after-effects of the shooting. And the further they move from the shooting, the more Park realizes that support for the victims dwindles.
“It’s just so unfair that it’s happening to her,” he said.
Jeremy Theron Smith faces three charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting. Police are also investigating whether two other shootings could be linked to the attack at the Dallas salon, both of which were Asian-run businesses.
The first incident, on April 2, was in the same retail center as the hair salon. The second occurred at a retail center in east Oak Cliff on Tuesday, one day prior to the salon shooting.
In an interview with detectives, Smith’s girlfriend said he had delusions about Asian people since being involved in a car crash about two years ago with an Asian man, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit.
Those delusions may have manifested in the attack on Park’s mother. One that will scar her and the other two victims for life, he said.
“Physically, she’s doing better. She’s walking better, but the mental trauma seems to be hitting her,” he said.
Her recovery
Before the attack, Park said his mother was an active person who enjoyed golfing, gardening and going out to eat with her friends at Korean restaurants. On occasion, she would volunteer at nursing homes with her other son.
“She did a lot of good things,” Park said. “As an immigrant, she told us to be thankful and to be equal to everyone.”
In the months since the shooting, Park said every time he talks to his mother he notices that she displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. She can’t sleep and is showing what he believes are signs of depression.
Park also thinks that the community has not responded in a way that makes his mother and the other victims feel supported. In some ways, he feels that the general public has forgotten about the shooting altogether, adding to his mother’s overall stress.
Since the shooting, a GoFundMe fundraiser created by Park on May 24 has raised about $58,000, including a $30,000 donation from the Asian American Foundation. Prior to that hefty donation, Park said he felt the support his mother and the other victims needed was hard to get.
But the goal is nowhere near the thousands in medical bills that all three victims will face, Park said. Because of their injuries, the victims will be out of work indefinitely, and Park has since raised the GoFundMe goal up to $100,000, up from $60,000. The other victims, who run the salon, will likely have to close their business due to their injuries, Park said.
Park said he attempted to contact local Korean churches or organizations for financial help but was met with overall disinterest. The Korean American community in Dallas-Fort Worth has been difficult to reach as well, he said, but it’s been hard for him to pinpoint why few are reluctant to donate.
Connecting through culture, faith
Daniel Park has been the senior pastor of New Song Church in Carrollton for more than 21 years. The church holds services in English and Korean for the congregation of about 2,000, he said.
While added security from police is appreciated by his congregation, Park said he would like to see more people in the Korean community build relationships with communities outside their own.
He said he thinks building those relationships will help prevent future attacks against the Korean community.
“I believe prevention is more important than prescription,” Daniel Park said.
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Pastor Park said the church engaged community ministry, single mothers, mid-houses, and people who are experiencing homelessness. He said the church also started reaching out to churches with different cultural differences to build relationships.
“Through that platform, I’d like to try to break the racial barriers,” he said.
Daniel Park said he spoke to a man who works near Komart, a Korean grocery store, and was told that many in the Korean community are scared to go to Koreatown because of the shooting.
“The tension is there, as I preached last Sunday morning, we should not put gasoline on top of this incident, we should use water to put it out,” Park said.
Almas Muscatwalla, director of Faith Forward Dallas, said the organization was formed with crises in mind, such as in times of shootings or hate crimes. Within the group, Muscatwalla said she doesn’t see as much representation from East Asian communities who respond in times of crisis. In her opinion, connecting people through culture, rather than faith, works better in east Asian communities.
“People don’t know how powerful the faith voice can be on these issues,” she said.
Move back to Korea
Once his mother is somewhat recovered, John Park said he, his wife and his parents plan to move back to Korea, where gun laws are stricter. His parents often traveled there prior to the pandemic. In Korea, maybe they’ll find the support they need.
For John Park, the decision is bittersweet. He considered the United States his home where he’s been offered many opportunities.
But after his mother was shot, after seeing numerous hate crimes against Asian Americans across the country and after the Uvalde school massacre, John Park said he had enough.
“The fact that someone went after our background and ethnicity and projected their biased prejudice against us in a physical assault, it’s very traumatic,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget about this incident.”
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