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

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

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

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

The victims, the salon proprietor, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and had been transported to a neighborhood hospital, in line with 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 motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he's around anyone of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Discipline Office, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace 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 told ABC News on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to remark additional presently."

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

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

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

"At the moment, there have been no arrests on these circumstances," Garcia mentioned, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced throughout a Friday press conference that legislation enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run companies could also be related.” The suspect in every incident was driving an identical car.

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

Police stated they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a dark coloration minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked across the parking lot and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth as quickly as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia stated the capturing on the salon could be linked to at least one that happened a day before and one which passed off last month.

Police realized from witness reports 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. No one was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've got reached out to our companions to make them aware of the attainable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia stated. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Process Force. We're additionally working with North Texas police companions to determine if this criminal action has or is taking place in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, May 12, 2022. A man opened fire inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

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

“We are turning to every resident of the town of Dallas to maintain a watch out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan experiences:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.