Suspect identified 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 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Could 11 capturing of three ladies in a hair salon within the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could possibly be linked to a collection of recent shootings at Asian-run businesses within the city, police mentioned.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an employee and a buyer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal accidents and were transported to a local hospital, in accordance with 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 realized that two years in the past Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "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 Area Office, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace 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 workplace in Dallas informed ABC News 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 in a position to comment further at the moment."

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

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

Garcia said that police continue to investigate two other shootings that could be linked to the salon capturing.

"At the moment, there have been no arrests on those circumstances," Garcia stated, adding 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 businesses may be connected.” The suspect in each incident was driving the same automobile.

This picture reveals the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened fire inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three people.

Police stated they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a darkish shade minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane and then walked across the parking lot 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 mentioned the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the capturing at the salon may be linked to at least one that occurred a day before and one which came about final month.

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

And on May 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or car drove by and shot into Asian-run companies near 4849 Sunnyvale Road, police said.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we now have reached out to our companions to make them aware of the doable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia said. “This includes the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Activity Pressure. We are additionally working with North Texas police companions to determine if this prison motion has or is happening of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia mentioned police will 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 each resident of the town of Dallas to maintain a watch 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 Americans throughout the nation, which spiked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.