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

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

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

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

The victims, the salon owner, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women 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 conference on Tuesday. Garcia said that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

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

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

"The Dallas FBI Discipline Workplace, the U.S. Attorney’s Workplace 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 area office in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to completely investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't capable of comment additional at the moment."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the owner and an employee – had been present on 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 stated that police continue to investigate two different shootings that could be linked to the salon capturing.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press convention that legislation enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run businesses may be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving an identical automobile.

This photograph exhibits the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are on the lookout for a man who opened fireplace contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three folks.

Police mentioned they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a dark colour minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked across the car parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening fireplace as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police also released a security image of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia stated the capturing at the salon is perhaps linked to at least one that occurred a day before and one that took place 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 companies and fired shots at three companies. Nobody was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have reached out to our partners to make them aware of the doable connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia said. “This includes the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Activity Pressure. We are additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this felony motion has or is going down of their jurisdictions.”

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

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

“We're turning to each resident of the town of Dallas to maintain an eye fixed out and safeguard our metropolis,” 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 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan stories:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.