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

The incident may be connected to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police stated.

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to 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 could possibly be linked to a collection of recent shootings at Asian-run businesses in the metropolis, police stated.

The victims, the salon owner, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and had been transported to an area hospital, in keeping with police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia identified the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith during a press convention on Tuesday. Garcia said that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"During our investigation, detectives discovered that two years ago Smith had a motorcar crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks 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. 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 field office in Dallas informed ABC Information on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to totally examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we're not able to remark additional right now."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the owner and an employee – have been current at the assembly, according to WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The ladies did not reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police continue to research two other shootings which may be linked to the salon taking pictures.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press convention that legislation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run companies could also be linked.” The suspect in each incident was driving an analogous car.

This picture shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are looking for a person who opened fire contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Police said 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 after which walked throughout the parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening fire as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police additionally released a safety picture of a maroon minivan they mentioned the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the capturing on the salon may be linked to at least one that happened a day earlier than and one which took place last month.

Police discovered from witness stories that on April 2, a driver in a crimson minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired shots at three businesses. Nobody 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 Avenue, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we now have reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the potential connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia stated. “This contains the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Task Drive. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this prison motion has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia mentioned police can be increasing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the metropolis where there are giant Asian American populations.

“We're turning to every resident of the city of Dallas to keep an eye fixed out and safeguard our city,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place here.”

These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of assaults concentrating on Asian Americans across the nation, which spiked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.