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

The incident could also be connected to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police mentioned.

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

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

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, based on ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal accidents and were transported to an area 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 mentioned that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"Throughout our investigation, detectives learned that two years in the past Smith had a motorcar 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 Subject Office, the U.S. Lawyer’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 instructed ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't capable of remark additional at this time."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the owner and an employee – were present on the meeting, in response to 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 investigate two other shootings that may be linked to the salon capturing.

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

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

This photo shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are on the lookout for a man who opened fireplace inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

Police mentioned they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a darkish color minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked across the car parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening hearth as soon as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia said the shooting at the salon is likely to be linked to one that occurred a day earlier than and one which occurred last month.

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

And on Could 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automobile drove by and shot into Asian-run businesses near 4849 Sunnyvale Avenue, police stated.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've reached out to our companions to make them aware of the possible connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia said. “This includes the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Job Power. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this criminal action has or is going down in their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police will likely be rising the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis where there are giant Asian American populations.

“We're turning to each resident of town of Dallas to keep an eye out and safeguard our city,” Garcia stated. “Hate has no place right here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.