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

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

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

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

The victims, the salon owner, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and were transported to an area hospital, according to police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized 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.

"Throughout our investigation, detectives learned that two years ago Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he's round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Field Workplace, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace 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 subject office in Dallas informed ABC Information on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to comment additional at this time."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the owner and an employee – have been present on the assembly, in response to WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The ladies didn't reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police continue to investigate two other shootings which may be linked to the salon capturing.

"Right now, there have been no arrests on those cases," Garcia mentioned, adding 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 businesses could also be linked.” The suspect in every incident was driving an analogous car.

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

Police mentioned they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a dark shade minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane after which walked across the car parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police additionally launched a security image of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia said the shooting at the salon may be linked to 1 that happened a day before and one that took place last month.

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

And on Could 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automotive drove by and shot into Asian-run companies close to 4849 Sunnyvale Street, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have now reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the potential connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Activity Power. We are also working with North Texas police partners to find out if this legal action has or is going down 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 individuals.

Garcia mentioned police will probably be rising the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis the place there are large Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.