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

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

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

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

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, in response to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and were 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 motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he is round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Subject Office, 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 subject workplace in Dallas informed ABC Information on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we're not able to remark additional at the moment."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the proprietor and an worker – were current on the assembly, in accordance with WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police continue to investigate two other shootings that may be linked to the salon shooting.

"At this time, there have been no arrests on those cases," Garcia said, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press conference that law enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses may be related.” The suspect in every incident was driving an identical car.

This photograph reveals the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are in search of a man who opened fireplace inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

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

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

Garcia stated the taking pictures at the salon is likely to be linked to one that occurred a day before and one that happened last month.

Police discovered from witness reviews that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired photographs 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 companies near 4849 Sunnyvale Road, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we've reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the doable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia said. “This consists of the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Activity Pressure. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this criminal action has or is going down of their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, May 12, 2022. A man opened fire contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

Garcia stated police shall be rising the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas in the metropolis the place there are massive Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.