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

The incident may be connected to shootings at Asian-run companies, police said.

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the Could 11 shooting of three ladies in a hair salon within the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could possibly be linked to a series of recent shootings at Asian-run businesses in the city, police stated.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, according to 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 recognized 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.

"During our investigation, detectives realized that two years ago Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he is around anyone 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. Legal professional’s Workplace 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 field office in Dallas advised ABC News on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to completely investigate this incident. As that 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 safety.

Two of the shooting victims – the owner and an employee – had been present at the assembly, in line with WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face coated. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police proceed to research two different shootings that may be linked to the salon shooting.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press convention that regulation enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run businesses may be linked.” The suspect in every incident was driving an analogous vehicle.

This photo exhibits the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are on the lookout for a man who opened fire inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three people.

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

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

Garcia said the shooting at the salon could be linked to at least one that happened a day before and one which befell final month.

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

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, now we have reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the possible connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia mentioned. “This contains the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Process Drive. We are 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, May 12, 2022. A man opened fireplace inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three folks.

Garcia mentioned police might be increasing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis where there are giant Asian American populations.

“We are turning to each resident of the city of Dallas to maintain an eye fixed out and safeguard our city,” Garcia stated. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.