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

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

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

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

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal accidents and were 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 realized that two years in the past Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks 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 Workplace, the U.S. Lawyer’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 office in Dallas informed ABC News on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we're not able to comment additional presently."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the proprietor and an worker – have been present on the assembly, in line with WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police proceed to analyze two different shootings which may be linked to the salon capturing.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run companies may be linked.” The suspect in each incident was driving the same vehicle.

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

Police stated they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a dark color minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked throughout the parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening fireplace as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police also released a safety picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

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

Police learned from witness studies that on April 2, a driver in a crimson minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired pictures at three companies. No one was injured.

And on Could 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automobile drove by and shot into Asian-run companies close to 4849 Sunnyvale Street, police stated.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've got reached out to our companions to make them aware of the potential connection and ask for their help,” Garcia said. “This consists of the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Activity Force. We're additionally working with North Texas police companions to determine if this criminal action has or is going down of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police shall be growing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the city the place there are massive Asian American populations.

“We're turning to each resident of town of Dallas to keep an eye fixed 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 Individuals throughout the nation, which spiked through the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.