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

The incident may be related to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police stated.

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the May 11 taking pictures of three women 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 in the metropolis, police stated.

The victims, the salon owner, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, in line with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal accidents 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 during a press conference on Tuesday. Garcia stated that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

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

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

"The Dallas FBI Area Office, 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 subject workplace in Dallas told ABC Information on Monday. "We are in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't capable of comment additional right now."

Police met with neighborhood members at a town corridor 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 keeping 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 analyze two different shootings which may be linked to the salon taking pictures.

"At the moment, there have been no arrests on these cases," Garcia stated, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press convention that legislation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses could also be related.” The suspect in every incident was driving the same car.

This photograph reveals the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are on the lookout for a person who opened hearth contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Police said they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a darkish shade minivan-type car" on Royal Lane and then walked across the parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police additionally launched a safety image of a maroon minivan they mentioned the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the capturing on the salon is likely to be linked to 1 that occurred a day earlier than and one which passed off final month.

Police learned from witness reviews that on April 2, a driver in a crimson minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired photographs at three companies. Nobody was injured.

And on Might 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or car 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 attainable connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Drive. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this felony action has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Could 12, 2022. A person opened fireplace inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three people.

Garcia stated police can be growing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas in the city the place there are massive Asian American populations.

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

These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of attacks targeting Asian People across the nation, which spiked in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.