DALLAS
A federal grand jury returned an indictment this week charging Anthony Paz Torres, 37, with hate crimes, officials stated.
Torres shot to death of one person and attempted to kill four others at Omar’s Wheels and Tires. Torres is also charged with using a firearm to commit the murder.
The indictment alleges that Torres went to Omar’s Wheels and Tires on December 24, 2015, and shot at employees and customers at the business.
Torres had gone to the business a few days earlier but was told by law enforcement officers not to return, officials stated.
When he returned on Christmas Eve, Torres shot and killed one individual and attempted to kill three other individuals with his firearm.
Torres attempted to kill a fourth person with his motor vehicle as he was leaving. He reportedly targeted the business because it was owned by a Muslim man.
Furthermore, witnesses told police that before he opened fire, Torres had asked several employees and customers whether they were Muslims or not.
Torres faces a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment on the death-resulting hate crime and gun charge counts. For the remaining hate crime charges, he faces a term of years.
The FBI Dallas Field Office and the Dallas Police Department investigated the case with the support of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
Trial Attorney Rebekah J. Bailey of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Dana for the Northern District of Texas prosecuted the case.