Suspect identified in Dallas salon capturing as FBI opens hate crime investigation

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

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the May 11 shooting of three women in a hair salon within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a series of current shootings at Asian-run businesses in the city, police stated.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an employee and a buyer, are all Korean, in response to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal injuries and were transported to a local hospital, based on police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout 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 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's around anyone of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Discipline Workplace, the U.S. Legal professional’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 area office in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to comment additional presently."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the proprietor and an worker – were current on the assembly, 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 proceed to investigate two different shootings that may be linked to the salon shooting.

"Right now, there have been no arrests on those circumstances," Garcia stated, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press conference that law enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run companies could also be connected.” The suspect in each incident was driving an analogous automobile.

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

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

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

Garcia said the capturing on the salon may be linked to 1 that happened a day earlier than and one that befell final month.

Police discovered from witness experiences that on April 2, a driver in a red minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired shots at three businesses. Nobody was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, we now have reached out to our partners to make them aware of the doable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia mentioned. “This includes the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Activity Pressure. We're also working with North Texas police companions to determine if this criminal action has or is going down in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Could 12, 2022. A man opened fireplace contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three folks.

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

“We're turning to each resident of the city of Dallas to maintain a watch 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 throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.