Suspect recognized in Dallas salon capturing as FBI opens hate crime investigation

The incident could also be linked to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police stated.

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Might 11 taking pictures of three girls in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and may very well be linked to a series of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses within the metropolis, police said.

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a buyer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal accidents and have been transported to a neighborhood hospital, based on police.

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

"Throughout our investigation, detectives discovered that two years in the past Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he's round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Subject Office, the U.S. Legal professional’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 informed ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't able to remark further at this time."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the owner and an worker – have been present on the meeting, based on WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face covered. The ladies didn't reveal their names.

Garcia said that police continue to investigate two other shootings that could be linked to the salon capturing.

"At this time, there have been no arrests on those instances," 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 latest shootings of Asian run businesses may be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving the same automobile.

This photo shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are searching for a man who opened fireplace 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 appeared to be "a dark shade minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked across the parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth as soon as he entered the salon.

Police also released a security image of a maroon minivan they mentioned the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia said the capturing at the salon is likely to be linked to at least one that occurred a day earlier than and one which befell final month.

Police realized from witness reports that on April 2, a driver in a red minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired shots at three businesses. No one was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, we now have reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the doable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia said. “This includes the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Activity Power. We are additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this prison motion has or is happening in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Could 12, 2022. A person opened fire inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Garcia stated police can be growing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the city where there are massive Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.