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

The incident could also be related to shootings at Asian-run companies, police said.

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the May 11 capturing of three ladies in a hair salon within the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and might be linked to a series of recent shootings at Asian-run businesses within the city, police stated.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, in keeping with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal accidents and had been transported to a neighborhood hospital, according to police.

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

"Throughout our investigation, detectives discovered that two years in the past Smith had a motorcar crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he is 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 Office 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 discipline workplace in Dallas informed ABC Information on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to totally investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to comment further at this time."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the proprietor and an worker – were present at the meeting, according to WFAA. The employee spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia said that police proceed to investigate two other shootings that may be linked to the salon taking pictures.

"At this time, there have been no arrests on these circumstances," Garcia stated, including that the investigation is ongoing.

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

This photograph shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man who opened fireplace inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three folks.

Police said they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a darkish color minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane and then walked across the parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth 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 mentioned the capturing on the salon is likely to be linked to one that occurred a day earlier than and one that passed off last month.

Police discovered from witness experiences that on April 2, a driver in a red minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired photographs at three businesses. Nobody was injured.

And on Might 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 caution, we have reached out to our companions to make them aware of the possible connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia said. “This includes the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Job Power. We're also working with North Texas police partners to determine if this felony action has or is going down of their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Could 12, 2022. A man opened hearth inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Garcia said police might be rising the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas within the city the place there are massive Asian American populations.

“We are turning to every resident of town of Dallas to maintain an eye out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia mentioned. “Hate has no place right here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.