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

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

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Might 11 capturing of three girls in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could possibly be linked to a series of latest shootings at Asian-run companies in the metropolis, police said.

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, in accordance with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal accidents and were transported to an area hospital, in accordance with police.

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

"During our investigation, detectives learned that two years ago Smith had a motorcar crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he's round anyone 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. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District in Texas and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice have opened a federal hate crime investigation into the incident at Hair World Salon in Dallas,” a spokesperson for the FBI area workplace in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly examine this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to remark further at this time."

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

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

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

"Right now, there have been no arrests on these instances," Garcia stated, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced throughout a Friday press convention that regulation enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run businesses could also be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving the same car.

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

Police mentioned they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a darkish coloration minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked across the parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening hearth as soon as he entered the salon.

Police additionally launched a security picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia said the shooting at the salon could be linked to one that happened a day earlier than and one that came about final month.

Police learned from witness reports that on April 2, a driver in a pink minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired shots at three businesses. Nobody was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, now we have reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the attainable connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia said. “This consists of the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Task Drive. We're also working with North Texas police partners to determine if this felony action has or is happening of 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 can be rising the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis where there are large Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan stories:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.