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

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

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the Might 11 capturing of three ladies in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and might be linked to a collection of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses within the metropolis, police stated.

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a buyer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal injuries and were transported to a local 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 stated that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"During our investigation, detectives discovered that two years in the past 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 Subject Workplace, the U.S. Legal professional’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 told ABC News on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not in a position to comment further presently."

Police met with neighborhood members at a town corridor in Koreatown on Monday amid considerations for the general public's safety.

Two of the shooting victims – the proprietor and an employee – had been current at the assembly, in accordance with WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face coated. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia said that police continue to research two other shootings which may be linked to the salon capturing.

"Presently, there have been no arrests on these cases," Garcia mentioned, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced throughout a Friday press conference that regulation enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run businesses may be linked.” The suspect in each incident was driving an identical vehicle.

This photograph shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are searching for a man who opened fireplace 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 dark color minivan-type car" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening hearth as soon as he entered the salon.

Police additionally released a safety picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the shooting at the salon is perhaps linked to 1 that occurred a day earlier than and one that occurred final month.

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

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, now we have reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the attainable connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia stated. “This contains the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Job Drive. We're also working with North Texas police partners to determine if this legal motion has or is happening of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police will be increasing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis the place there are large Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan stories:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.