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

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

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

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

The victims, the salon owner, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, based on ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and were transported to an area hospital, in line with police.

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

"Throughout our investigation, detectives learned 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 attacks and delusions when he's round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Subject Workplace, the U.S. Attorney’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 discipline office in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to remark additional presently."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the proprietor and an worker – were current at the meeting, in response to WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police continue to research two different shootings that could be linked to the salon capturing.

"Right now, there have been no arrests on those circumstances," Garcia said, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced during a Friday press conference that legislation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run companies could also be linked.” The suspect in every incident was driving an identical automobile.

This photo exhibits the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man who opened hearth inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

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

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

Garcia said the taking pictures at the salon might be linked to one that occurred a day before and one which befell last month.

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

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we now have reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the doable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia mentioned. “This includes the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Pressure. We're also working with North Texas police companions to determine if this felony 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 space, wounding three individuals.

Garcia said police will be rising the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the city the place there are giant Asian American populations.

“We're turning to every resident of the city of Dallas to keep an eye fixed out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia stated. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.