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

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

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

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

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, in line with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal accidents and were transported to an area hospital, in response to police.

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

"Throughout our investigation, detectives learned that two years in the past Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "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 Area Workplace, the U.S. Attorney’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 discipline office in Dallas told ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't able to comment additional right now."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the owner and an employee – had been present at the meeting, according to WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women didn't reveal their names.

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

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

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

This picture shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened hearth inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

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

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

Garcia said the capturing on the salon may be linked to one that happened a day earlier than and one that came about final month.

Police realized from witness reviews that on April 2, a driver in a red minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired shots at three companies. No one was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we now have reached out to our partners to make them aware of the possible connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia stated. “This contains the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to determine if this felony motion has or is happening in their jurisdictions.”

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

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

“We're turning to every resident of the city of Dallas to keep an eye fixed out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia stated. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan experiences:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.