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

The incident could also be connected to shootings at Asian-run companies, police mentioned.

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with 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 may very well be linked to a series of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses within the city, police said.

The victims, the salon owner, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, in keeping with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and have been transported to a neighborhood hospital, according to police.

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

"Throughout our investigation, detectives discovered that two years in the past Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults 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 Discipline Office, 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 discipline workplace in Dallas advised ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are not in a position to comment further at this time."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the owner and an worker – have been current on the assembly, in line with WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police continue to research two other shootings that could be linked to the salon shooting.

"At the moment, there have been no arrests on these instances," Garcia mentioned, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press conference that regulation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses may be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving an analogous car.

This photograph shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are looking for a person who opened hearth contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

Police stated they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a darkish color minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked across the car parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth as soon as he entered the salon.

Police additionally launched a security picture of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the taking pictures at the salon could be linked to at least one that occurred a day before and one which passed off last month.

Police realized from witness reviews that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired pictures at three businesses. Nobody was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we've got reached out to our companions to make them aware of the possible connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia said. “This consists of the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Job Power. We are also working with North Texas police companions to determine if this legal action has or is happening of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia mentioned police shall be rising the presence of high 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 maintain 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 focusing on Asian Individuals throughout the nation, which spiked through the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.