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

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

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the Could 11 shooting 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 collection of recent shootings at Asian-run companies in the metropolis, police mentioned.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, in keeping with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal injuries and had been transported to an area hospital, in response to police.

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

"During our investigation, detectives learned that two years in the past Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he is round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Field 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 subject office in Dallas instructed ABC Information on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to totally investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are not in a position to remark additional right now."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the proprietor and an worker – have been present at the assembly, 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 proceed to analyze two different shootings that could be linked to the salon taking pictures.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses could also be connected.” The suspect in each incident was driving a similar automobile.

This photo shows the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man who opened fire inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three people.

Police stated they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a dark shade minivan-type car" on Royal Lane and then walked across the car parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening hearth as quickly as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia said the taking pictures at the salon is perhaps linked to 1 that occurred a day before and one that befell final month.

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

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, now we have reached out to our companions to make them aware of the potential connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Pressure. We are also working with North Texas police companions to find out if this prison 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 can 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 town of Dallas to keep an eye fixed out and safeguard our city,” Garcia stated. “Hate has no place here.”

These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of assaults focusing on Asian Americans across the nation, which spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.