Transgender Woman in Dallas Shot in Suspected Hate Crime

A transgender woman was shot multiple times in the arm and chest Friday in an attack police believe was motivated by her gender.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the incident took place at 11 p.m. on Friday evening in Northwest Dallas, a predominantly Black neighborhood of Texas' third largest city. While the victim was in her car, an unidentified man pulled alongside her vehicle and reportedly began screaming "a number of slurs about her gender identity."

That's when he opened fire, badly injuring the victim but not killing her. Her wounds were severe enough that law enforcement officials couldn't speak to her about what had happened until two days later.

The victim has not been identified in reports of the incident. The assailant is described as Latinx and reportedly drives a red, four-door Chevrolet truck.

This is only the most recent attack on a transgender woman in the Dallas area this year. Muhlaysia Booker and Chynal Lindsey, both of whom were Black, were shot to death in May and June, respectively. They are two of the nearly two dozen transgender people who have reportedly been killed in 2019, the vast majority of whom were women of color. Almost all were victims of gun violence.

While local authorities say Friday's incident is being investigated as a hate crime, Texas has statewide hate crime laws on the books that only enumerate sexual orientation as a protected class, not gender identity.

Any action to prosecute the attack as a hate crime would, thus, likely have to be taken at the federal level.

RELATED | Muhlaysia Booker Dead Amid Ongoing Violence Against Black Trans Women