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

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

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the May 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 possibly be linked to a series of recent shootings at Asian-run businesses in the city, police said.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal accidents and have been transported to a neighborhood hospital, in accordance with police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout 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 stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults 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 Subject Workplace, 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 discipline office in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to totally investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we're not able to comment further right now."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the owner and an worker – have been current at the meeting, in keeping with WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face covered. The ladies did not reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police proceed to research two other shootings that may be linked to the salon shooting.

"At this time, there have been no arrests on these instances," Garcia stated, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced throughout a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run companies could also be connected.” The suspect in each incident was driving an identical automobile.

This photo exhibits the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened fireplace contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Police said they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a dark color minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening fireplace as soon as he entered the salon.

Police also launched a safety picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia stated the capturing on the salon is likely to be linked to one that occurred a day earlier than and one that occurred last month.

Police learned from witness reviews that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired pictures at three companies. Nobody was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, now we have 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 Process Pressure. We are also working with North Texas police partners to determine if this prison motion has or is happening 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 individuals.

Garcia said police might be growing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the metropolis the place there are giant Asian American populations.

“We are 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 targeting Asian Americans across the nation, which spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan experiences:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.