CARROLLTON — A man shot five people, killing two, in back-to-back shootings Tuesday at a shopping center and then an apartment building because he was angry over business dealings, police said.
The first shooting happened just before 10 a.m. at a shopping center in a Koreatown neighborhood in a suburb north of Dallas, the Carrollton Police Department said. When police arrived, they found four adults who had been shot. While they were investigating, another shooting was reported at an apartment complex roughly 4 miles away, and responding officers found a dead man inside one of the apartments.
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Investigators determined the suspect, 69-year-old Seung Ho Han, carried out both of the shootings, police said. He was arrested at a nearby grocery store after a short chase on foot. Police say Ho Han acknowledged he was the shooter in an interview with detectives and said he was angry at the people he shot because of financial disagreements over their business dealings.
It was not a random act of violence and the attacker knew both of the people who were fatally shot, Carrollton Police Chief Roberto Arredondo said.
“It was a known business relationship. We’re still trying to work to identify what caused his actions,” Arredondo said.
The three people injured in the shooting were in stable condition, Arredondo said. The names of the victims were not released.
Shortly after the shooting, officers with their guns drawn walked past doors at K Towne Plaza in an area of Carrollton known as Koreatown. Agents from the FBI were among law enforcement collecting evidence in the parking lot.
Carrollton — population 130,000 — is 20 miles north of Dallas. More than 4,000 residents are of Korean descent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“We’re shocked,” said John Jun, who’s active in the Korean American community. “We’re not immune to something like this happening, but we are very generally a peaceful community that works hard.”
In the last 20 years, it has grown into a thriving Koreatown for the metro Dallas area, thanks to Korean investors. It’s anchored by big-box businesses like H Mart as well as dozens of restaurants serving everything from Korean fried chicken to shaved ice desserts.
The city is also home to multiple Korean churches from Baptist to Presbyterian congregations.
AP reporters Terry Tang in Phoenix, Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this story.