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

The incident could also be related to shootings at Asian-run companies, police stated.

17 May 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 metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a sequence of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses within the city, police said.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, in accordance with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and had been transported to an area hospital, according to police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout a press convention 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 motorized 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 Division and the FBI are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

"The Dallas FBI Discipline Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office 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 field office in Dallas informed ABC Information on Monday. "We are in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't capable of comment additional presently."

Police met with group members at a town hall in Koreatown on Monday amid concerns for the public's safety.

Two of the taking pictures victims – the proprietor and an employee – had been current at the assembly, in response to WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women didn't reveal their names.

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

"At the moment, there have been no arrests on these instances," Garcia said, 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 companies could also be connected.” The suspect in each incident was driving a similar vehicle.

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 hearth contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Police mentioned they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a darkish color minivan-type vehicle" 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 also released a security picture of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the capturing on the salon could be linked to one that occurred a day earlier than and one that happened last month.

Police discovered from witness reviews that on April 2, a driver in a pink minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired shots at three businesses. No one was injured.

And on Might 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automobile drove by and shot into Asian-run companies close to 4849 Sunnyvale Road, police stated.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we now have reached out to our companions to make them aware of the possible connection and ask for their help,” Garcia said. “This contains the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Job Power. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this felony motion has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police shall 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 each resident of town of Dallas to keep an eye 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 in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.