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

The incident may be related 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 women in a hair salon within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and might be linked to a series of recent shootings at Asian-run companies within the city, police mentioned.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, in response to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal accidents and were transported to a neighborhood hospital, in response to police.

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

"During our investigation, detectives discovered that two years ago Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he's round anyone of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Field Office, 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 told ABC News on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to totally investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to remark additional at the moment."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the owner and an employee – have been present on the meeting, based on WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women did not reveal their names.

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

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced during a Friday press conference that legislation enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run businesses could also be related.” The suspect in each incident was driving an analogous vehicle.

This photograph exhibits the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are in search of a man who opened fireplace contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

Police stated they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a dark color minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the car parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth as soon as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia said the taking pictures at the salon is perhaps linked to one that happened a day before and one which passed off last month.

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

And on May 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automobile drove by and shot into Asian-run companies close to 4849 Sunnyvale Avenue, police said.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've got reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the possible connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This includes the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Process Drive. We are also working with North Texas police partners to find out if this felony motion has or is happening of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police can be increasing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas in the city the place there are massive Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.