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

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

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Could 11 shooting 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 metropolis, police mentioned.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, in accordance with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal accidents and had been transported to a local hospital, in accordance with police.

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

"During our investigation, detectives learned 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 anyone of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Area Office, 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 area workplace in Dallas instructed ABC Information on Monday. "We are in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we're not able to comment additional presently."

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

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

Garcia stated that police continue to investigate two different shootings which may be linked to the salon taking pictures.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press conference that law enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run companies may be related.” The suspect in each incident was driving the same car.

This picture exhibits the inside 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 people.

Police said 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 across the parking lot and into the institution, allegedly opening fireplace as soon 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 at the salon could be linked to one that occurred a day earlier than and one which befell final month.

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

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have now reached out to our partners to make them aware of the possible connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia stated. “This includes the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Job Force. We are also working with North Texas police partners to find out if this criminal action has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

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

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

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.