Attacker yelled anti-LGBTQ slurs before shooting transgender woman: Police originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Dallas police are searching for a man who shot a transgender woman several times over the weekend while yelling anti-LGBTQ slurs at her.
The 35-year-old woman was shot late Friday night in an attack that police are investigating as a hate crime, according to the Dallas Police Department.
Investigators said the gunman pulled up alongside the woman at around 11 p.m., shouted "a number of slurs regarding her gender identity" and opened fire, hitting her multiple times in the chest and arm.
The woman survived, but police said they weren't able to speak with her until Sunday. The department released surveillance footage on Monday, showing a red pick-up truck that was allegedly used in the attack.
The department is asking for help identifying the suspect and is offering up to $5,000 for any information that leads to an arrest and indictment.
"A Latin male suspect driving this suspect vehicle, pulled alongside the victim, yelled a number of slurs regarding her gender identity and [fired] at the victim, striking her multiple times in the chest and arm," the department said in a statement Monday. "The suspect vehicle is described as a late model four (4) door, red Chevrolet truck with large aftermarket rims."
At least three transgender women have been fatally attacked across Texas this year as LGBTQ advocates combat what they call a nationwide epidemic of anti-transgender violence.
At least 18 transgender people have been killed this year in the U.S., according to the Human Rights Campaign. The group tracked 29 killings in 2018, the most it had ever recorded in a year.
Since 2013, HRC has tracked at least 145 transgender deaths due to fatal violence, with most victims being black transgender women. But the organization said the violence is hard to track due to misgendering -- incorrectly applying gender labels -- and transphobia.
Issues surrounding anti-transgender violence have become a common talking point on the campaign trail with several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates addressing the murders in speeches.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., read the names of 18 trans women killed this year Friday at a forum focused on LGBTQ issues.
“Dana Martin, Jazzaline Ware, Ashanti Carmon, Claire Legato, Muhlaysia Booker,” Warren said. “Michelle ‘Tamika’ Washington, Paris Cameron, Chanel Lindsey, Chanel Scurlock, Zoe Spears, Brooklyn Lindsey, Denali, Berries Stuckey, Kiki Fantroy, Pebbles LaDime ‘Dime’ Doe, Tracy Single, Bailey Reeves, Bee Love Slater, Ja’leyah-Jamar.”
“It is time for a president of the United States of America to say their names,” she added.
Other Democratic candidates, including former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, have also called attention to the violence and other issues specific to transgender individuals.
ABC News' Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.