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

The incident may be linked 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 taking pictures of three ladies in a hair salon within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a collection of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses within the metropolis, police said.

The victims, the salon owner, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, in response to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and have been transported to a local 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 stated that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

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

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

"The Dallas FBI Area Workplace, the U.S. Lawyer’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 subject office in Dallas told ABC Information on Monday. "We are in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't able to comment further presently."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the proprietor and an employee – had been present at the assembly, in response to WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police proceed to analyze two different shootings that could be linked to the salon shooting.

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

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

This photograph exhibits 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 realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a dark color minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane after which walked throughout 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 mentioned the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia stated the capturing at the salon is likely to be linked to at least one that occurred a day before and one that befell last month.

Police discovered from witness experiences that on April 2, a driver in a pink minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired photographs at three businesses. No one was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we've reached out to our companions to make them aware of the potential connection and ask for their help,” Garcia mentioned. “This consists of the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. We're also working with North Texas police partners to find out if this felony motion has or is taking place in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Might 12, 2022. A person opened hearth inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

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

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.