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 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

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

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a buyer, are all Korean, in accordance with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and have been transported to a local hospital, in keeping with 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 mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he's around anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Subject Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office 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 field workplace in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not capable of remark further at this time."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the owner and an worker – have been current at the meeting, based on WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The ladies didn't reveal their names.

Garcia said that police continue to investigate two different shootings that could be linked to the salon shooting.

"Right now, there have been no arrests on these instances," Garcia stated, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press convention that legislation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run companies may be connected.” The suspect in each incident was driving an analogous vehicle.

This photo exhibits the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened fire inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

Police mentioned they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a dark shade minivan-type vehicle" 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 additionally released a security picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the taking pictures at the salon is perhaps linked to one that happened a day before and one that occurred last month.

Police learned from witness studies that on April 2, a driver in a crimson minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired shots at three companies. Nobody 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 Avenue, police said.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we now have reached out to our companions to make them aware of the potential connection and ask for their help,” Garcia stated. “This contains the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Job Pressure. We are also working with North Texas police partners to find out if this legal action has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, May 12, 2022. A person opened fire inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

Garcia said police will probably 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 every resident of the city of Dallas to keep an eye out and safeguard our city,” Garcia stated. “Hate has no place right here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan experiences:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.