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

The incident may be linked to shootings at Asian-run companies, police stated.

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Could 11 shooting of three girls in a hair salon in the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and might be linked to a collection of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses within the city, police stated.

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

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout a press conference on Tuesday. Garcia mentioned 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 around anybody of Asian descent."

The Dallas Police Department 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 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 office in Dallas advised ABC Information on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to completely investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't capable of comment additional right now."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the proprietor and an worker – were current at the assembly, in line with WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police continue to investigate two other shootings that could be linked to the salon taking pictures.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced throughout a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run companies could also be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving an analogous automobile.

This photo reveals the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are on the lookout for a person who opened fireplace inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three folks.

Police said they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a darkish coloration minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked across the parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening fireplace as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police also launched a safety picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the capturing on the salon might be linked to 1 that occurred a day earlier than and one that happened final month.

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

And on Might 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automobile drove by and shot into Asian-run businesses near 4849 Sunnyvale Road, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have now reached out to our partners to make them aware of the doable connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia stated. “This contains the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Job Power. We are also working with North Texas police partners to find out if this felony motion has or is taking place in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Might 12, 2022. A man opened fire contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Garcia said police will likely be increasing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the city the place there are large Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.