Suspect identified in Dallas salon shooting as FBI opens hate crime investigation

The incident could also be connected to shootings at Asian-run companies, police mentioned.

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Might 11 shooting of three girls in a hair salon in the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and might be linked to a sequence of latest shootings at Asian-run companies within the metropolis, police stated.

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, in response to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and have been transported to a neighborhood hospital, in keeping with police.

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

"During our investigation, detectives learned that two years ago Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he is around anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Area Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office 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 discipline workplace in Dallas told ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely examine this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't capable of comment further at this time."

Police met with neighborhood members at a town corridor in Koreatown on Monday amid issues for the general public's security.

Two of the shooting victims – the owner and an employee – have been current at the meeting, according to WFAA. The employee spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia said that police continue to analyze two different shootings which may be linked to the salon taking pictures.

"At this time, there have been no arrests on those cases," Garcia mentioned, adding 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 related.” The suspect in each incident was driving an analogous car.

This photo exhibits the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened fire inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Police stated they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a dark coloration minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane and then walked across the parking lot and into the establishment, allegedly opening hearth as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police also launched a safety image of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia said the shooting on the salon might be linked to one that occurred a day earlier than and one that occurred last month.

Police learned from witness reports that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired shots at three companies. No one was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have now reached out to our companions to make them aware of the doable connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia said. “This contains the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. We're also working with North Texas police companions to find out if this criminal motion has or is happening in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, May 12, 2022. A man opened fireplace contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

Garcia mentioned police will probably be growing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas in the metropolis where there are giant Asian American populations.

“We're turning to every resident of the city of Dallas to keep 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 targeting Asian Individuals throughout the nation, which spiked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.