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

The incident could also be linked to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police said.

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the May 11 taking pictures of three girls in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could possibly be linked to a sequence of recent shootings at Asian-run companies within the metropolis, police stated.

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

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia identified 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 stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he is round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Subject Workplace, the U.S. Legal professional’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 subject office in Dallas told ABC News on Monday. "We are in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to completely examine this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we're not able to remark additional at the moment."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the proprietor and an employee – were current on the assembly, according to WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police proceed to investigate two different shootings that could be linked to the salon taking pictures.

"Presently, there have been no arrests on these cases," Garcia stated, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

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

This photo shows the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 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 discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a dark colour minivan-type car" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the parking lot and into the institution, allegedly opening fire as soon as he entered the salon.

Police also launched a security picture of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia stated the capturing on the salon is likely to be linked to 1 that occurred a day earlier than and one which happened last month.

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

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have reached out to our partners to make them aware of the possible connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Job Force. We are also working with North Texas police partners to determine if this legal action has or is happening of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia mentioned police will likely be increasing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the city where there are massive Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.