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

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

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Might 11 taking pictures of three girls 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 sequence of recent shootings at Asian-run companies within the metropolis, 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 women suffered nonfatal injuries and had been transported to a local 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 mentioned that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"During our investigation, detectives realized that two years in the past Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he's round anyone of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Discipline Office, the U.S. Lawyer’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 informed ABC News on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to totally investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to comment additional at the moment."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the proprietor and an employee – have been present on the assembly, in accordance with WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police continue to analyze two different shootings that could be linked to the salon taking pictures.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press conference that regulation enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run companies could also be related.” The suspect in every incident was driving an identical car.

This photo exhibits the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are searching for a person who opened fireplace contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

Police said they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a darkish color 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 also launched a security image of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the taking pictures on the salon might be linked to at least one that occurred a day before and one that took place last month.

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

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've got reached out to our companions to make them aware of the attainable connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia said. “This consists of the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Process Pressure. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to determine if this criminal motion has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Might 12, 2022. A person opened fire contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Garcia mentioned police will probably be growing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis the place there are giant Asian American populations.

“We are turning to every resident of the town of Dallas to maintain 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 concentrating on Asian People throughout the nation, which spiked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.