Suspect identified in Dallas salon taking pictures as FBI opens hate crime investigation

The incident may be connected to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police said.

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the May 11 shooting of three women in a hair salon within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a series of current shootings at Asian-run businesses within the city, police said.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, in accordance with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal injuries and had been transported to a neighborhood hospital, in accordance with police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith during a press conference on Tuesday. Garcia stated that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"During our investigation, detectives discovered that two years in the past Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he is round anyone of Asian descent."

The Dallas Police Division and the FBI are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

"The Dallas FBI Field Office, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Northern District in Texas and the Civil Rights Division of the Division of Justice have opened a federal hate crime investigation into the incident at Hair World Salon in Dallas,” a spokesperson for the FBI field office in Dallas advised ABC Information on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to totally examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to remark further at the moment."

Police met with neighborhood members at a town hall in Koreatown on Monday amid considerations for the public's safety.

Two of the shooting victims – the proprietor and an employee – had been current on the assembly, in keeping with WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police continue to investigate two different shootings which may be linked to the salon shooting.

"Presently, there have been no arrests on these cases," Garcia mentioned, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced during a Friday press convention that legislation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses may be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving the same car.

This photograph shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are in search of a man who opened fire inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

Police said they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a darkish color minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked throughout the car parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth as soon as he entered the salon.

Police additionally released a security image of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the taking pictures on the salon might be linked to at least one that happened a day before and one that happened final month.

Police realized from witness stories that on April 2, a driver in a crimson minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired photographs at three businesses. Nobody was injured.

And on Might 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automotive drove by and shot into Asian-run companies near 4849 Sunnyvale Avenue, police said.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the potential connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia mentioned. “This contains the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Job Force. We are additionally working with North Texas police partners to determine if this legal action has or is going down of their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Might 12, 2022. A person opened fire contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Garcia said police will be increasing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the metropolis where there are massive Asian American populations.

“We're turning to each resident of town of Dallas to maintain an eye out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place right here.”

These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of attacks concentrating on Asian People across the nation, which spiked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan stories:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.