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

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

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Could 11 taking pictures of three ladies in a hair salon within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and may very well be linked to a series of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses in the city, police mentioned.

The victims, the salon owner, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal accidents 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 conference on Tuesday. Garcia mentioned that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"During our investigation, detectives discovered that two years ago Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he's around anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Area Workplace, the U.S. Lawyer’s Office 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 advised ABC Information on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to completely investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are not capable of comment additional at the moment."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the owner and an employee – were current on the assembly, in accordance with WFAA. The employee spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face coated. The women did not reveal their names.

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

"Right now, there have been no arrests on these instances," Garcia stated, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run businesses may be related.” The suspect in every incident was driving a similar automobile.

This photograph exhibits the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are searching for a person who opened fireplace inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Police mentioned they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a darkish coloration minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the parking lot and into the establishment, allegedly opening fire as soon as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia mentioned the taking pictures on the salon is likely to be linked to at least one that happened a day earlier than and one that passed off final month.

Police learned from witness reviews that on April 2, a driver in a crimson minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired shots at three companies. Nobody was injured.

And on Might 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or car drove by and shot into Asian-run businesses close to 4849 Sunnyvale Street, police said.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we've got reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the doable connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This consists of the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Activity Force. We're additionally working with North Texas police companions to find out if this legal action has or is going down in their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia mentioned police shall be rising the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas within the city where there are massive Asian American populations.

“We are turning to each resident of town of Dallas to keep a watch out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia mentioned. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.