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

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

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the May 11 shooting of three girls in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and may very well be linked to a sequence of latest shootings at Asian-run companies within the city, police stated.

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a buyer, are all Korean, in response to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and have been transported to a local hospital, in keeping with police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith during a press convention 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 motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he is round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Field 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 area office in Dallas told ABC Information on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to remark additional at this time."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the owner and an employee – had been present on the assembly, based on WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face coated. The ladies did not reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police proceed to research two other shootings that could be linked to the salon capturing.

"At this time, there have been no arrests on those cases," Garcia said, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced throughout a Friday press conference that legislation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses could also be connected.” The suspect in each incident was driving a similar car.

This photo reveals the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are searching for a man who opened fire inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three people.

Police mentioned they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a dark colour minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked across the car parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening fireplace as soon as he entered the salon.

Police also launched a security picture of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia stated the shooting on the salon may be linked to at least one that occurred a day earlier than and one which occurred last month.

Police learned from witness experiences that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired pictures at three businesses. Nobody 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 Avenue, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have now reached out to our companions to make them aware of the attainable connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia stated. “This includes the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Job Drive. We're also working with North Texas police partners to determine if this prison action 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 folks.

Garcia stated police will likely be increasing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas in the city where there are large Asian American populations.

“We're turning to each resident of the city of Dallas to keep a watch out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place here.”

These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of attacks concentrating on Asian People across the nation, which spiked through the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.