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

The incident could also be linked to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police stated.

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 might be linked to a series of latest shootings at Asian-run companies in the city, police mentioned.

The victims, the salon owner, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal accidents and had been transported to a neighborhood hospital, in line with police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia identified the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout 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 in the past Smith had a motorcar crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he is round anyone 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. Attorney’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 subject workplace in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't able to remark further at this time."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the proprietor and an employee – were present at the assembly, based on WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face lined. The ladies did not reveal their names.

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

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press conference that legislation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run companies could also be linked.” The suspect in every incident was driving an identical vehicle.

This picture exhibits the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man who opened fire contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Police stated they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a darkish coloration minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening fire as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police additionally released a safety image of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia stated the shooting at the salon may be linked to at least one that happened a day before and one that took place last 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 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 near 4849 Sunnyvale Avenue, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the possible connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia said. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Drive. We are additionally working with North Texas police companions to determine if this criminal action has or is going down 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 folks.

Garcia said police will probably be growing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas in the city where there are massive Asian American populations.

“We're turning to each resident of the town of Dallas to maintain a watch out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia stated. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.