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

The incident could also be related to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police mentioned.

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

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

The victims, the salon owner, an employee 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 line with police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia identified the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout a press convention 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 mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks 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 Discipline Office, the U.S. Lawyer’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 area office in Dallas advised ABC Information on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to totally investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we're not in a position to comment additional at the moment."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the proprietor and an worker – were current at the meeting, in line with WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women did not reveal their names.

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

"At this time, there have been no arrests on those instances," Garcia mentioned, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press convention that regulation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses may be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving the same car.

This photo reveals the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are in search of a man who opened fireplace inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

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

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

Garcia mentioned the capturing on the salon may be linked to one that occurred a day earlier than and one which passed off final month.

Police learned from witness stories that on April 2, a driver in a crimson minivan drove previous 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 stated.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have now reached out to our companions to make them aware of the potential connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia said. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Power. We're also working with North Texas police companions to determine if this prison motion has or is going down of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police will be growing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the city where there are giant Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.