Suspect recognized in Dallas salon taking pictures as FBI opens hate crime investigation

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

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 within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a series of recent shootings at Asian-run companies within the city, police said.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, based on ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal injuries and had been 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 convention on Tuesday. Garcia mentioned that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"During our investigation, detectives realized that two years in the past Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks 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 Area Office, the U.S. Legal professional’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 field workplace in Dallas advised ABC News on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we're not in a position to remark further at this time."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the owner and an worker – were present on the assembly, based on 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 other shootings which may be linked to the salon capturing.

"At the moment, there have been no arrests on these circumstances," Garcia said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run businesses may be linked.” The suspect in each incident was driving an identical car.

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

Police said they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a darkish coloration minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane after which walked across the car parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening fireplace as soon as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia mentioned the capturing at the salon may be linked to 1 that occurred a day before and one that occurred final month.

Police realized from witness stories that on April 2, a driver in a crimson minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired photographs at three companies. Nobody was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we've got reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the potential connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia stated. “This contains the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Process Pressure. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to determine if this prison motion has or is happening of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia mentioned police shall be growing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the city where there are large Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan stories:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.