EULESS, Texas — The Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Muslim civil rights and advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) held a press conference on Saturday in Richardson to discuss an incident that they said took place at a North Texas apartment complex pool last month in which a woman was arrested for attempted capital murder after allegedly trying to drown a 3-year-old Muslim child of Palestinian descent.
According to Euless police, the alleged attack occurred back on May 19, 2024, when officers responded to the 2500 block of Highway 360 to a report of a disturbance between two women.
When officers arrived on the scene, they were told by witnesses that a woman later identified as 42-year-old Elizabeth Wolf was acting very drunk and had tried to drown a child after arguing with the child's mother, police said.
Wolf was immediately arrested for public intoxication, police said.
Police said officers then continued their investigation at the scene and spoke to the mother of the victims and witnesses as Euless medics checked on her children and medically cleared them. The mother told officers that Wolf had been asking where she was from and if the kids in the pool were hers, police said.
According to police, when the mother answered Wolf's queries, Wolf tried to grab the mother's 6-year-old son, although he pulled away from her, leading to his finger being scratched. Police said that, as the mother began tending to and helping her son, Wolf allegedly grabbed the mother's 3-year-old daughter and started to force her underwater. Euless police said the mother was able to rush to her daughter's aid and pull her from the water as she was screaming for help and coughing up water.
The mother stated that, throughout the incident, Wolf made comments about her not being an American and other racial remarks, police said. The mother is Palestinian-American, representatives with CAIR said.
Upon concluding their investigation at the scene, police charged Wolf with attempted capital murder and injury to a child.
"I think if this mother was alone, she may not be able to save her children’s own life," Bhojani said. "She did intervene and was not able to, but others came in and helped quite a bit."
Jail records show that Wolf is not currently in custody.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office confirmed the DA's office received the case and is currently reviewing it.
Watch CAIR's Saturday press conference here:
In Saturday's press conference, CAIR called on state and federal law enforcement to investigate the alleged attack as a hate crime, and to increase her bail bond.
Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of CAIR Texas, also used the press conference to read a statement from the mother.
"We are American citizens, originally from Palestine, and I don't know where to go to feel safe with my kids," the statement read. "My country is facing a war, and we are facing that hate here. My daughter is traumatized. Whenever I open the apartment door, she runs away and hides, telling me that she's afraid the lady will come and immerse her head in the water again. Additionally, my husband's employment is jeopardized due to having to leave work because of this issue to accompany me and our four kids whenever we have appointments or errands to run."
Carroll said CAIR it received 8,061 complaints of discrimination against Muslims nationwide in 2023 -- the most it has ever received in its 30-year history. Nearly half of those, Carroll said, were reported in the final months of the year, amid "an ongoing wave" of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian sentiment and hate in the wake of the escalation of violence in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The case has garnered attention from community leaders throughout North Texas, including from State Rep. Salman Bhojani, who spoke at Saturday's press conference.
“I’m shocked and appalled by this alleged racist, Islamophobic occurrence that took place in my town," Bhojani stated. "Hate has no place in Euless, District 92, or anywhere in our great state. I want to thank Euless PD for quickly apprehending the alleged provocateur, and I extend my service to the affected family.”
In an interview with WFAA on Monday, Bhojani said his office is assisting the family with legal services and counseling.
"Justice should be served, and if somebody has committed a crime, they should be punished for it," Bhojani said.
President Joe Biden reacted to the incident on X on Monday, saying," I am deeply disturbed by the reports of an attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian-American at a neighborhood pool. No child should ever be subjected to a violent attack, and my heart goes out to the family."
CAIR has launched a GoFundMe campaign to support the family at the center of the incident. It can be found here.
Also on WFAA.com: