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

The incident may be connected to shootings at Asian-run companies, police said.

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the May 11 capturing of three women in a hair salon in the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could possibly be linked to a series of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses in the city, police said.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal injuries and were transported to a neighborhood hospital, in line with police.

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

"During our investigation, detectives learned that two years ago Smith had a motorcar crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he's round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Subject Workplace, the U.S. Attorney’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 discipline office in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely examine this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to comment additional at the moment."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the proprietor and an employee – have been current on the meeting, in response to WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police proceed to investigate two different shootings which may be linked to the salon taking pictures.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press convention that regulation enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run businesses could also be related.” The suspect in each incident was driving the same vehicle.

This picture shows the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are on the lookout for a person who opened fireplace contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Police said they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a dark shade minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the car parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth as quickly as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia said the shooting at the salon could be linked to 1 that happened a day earlier than and one which took place final month.

Police discovered from witness reports that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired pictures 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 close to 4849 Sunnyvale Avenue, police said.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we've reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the attainable connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia said. “This includes the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Process Drive. We're also working with North Texas police companions to find out if this prison action has or is taking place in their jurisdictions.”

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

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

“We are turning to each resident of the city of Dallas to maintain an eye fixed out and safeguard our city,” Garcia mentioned. “Hate has no place right here.”

These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of attacks focusing on Asian Individuals across the nation, which spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.