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

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

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the May 11 taking pictures of three girls in a hair salon within the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and might be linked to a collection of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses within the metropolis, police said.

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

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout a press conference on Tuesday. Garcia said 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 stated. "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 Discipline Office, the U.S. Lawyer’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 area workplace in Dallas informed ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to totally investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we're not in a position to comment additional at the moment."

Police met with neighborhood members at a city hall in Koreatown on Monday amid considerations for the public's security.

Two of the capturing victims – the owner and an employee – had been current at the assembly, in line with WFAA. The employee spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia said that police continue to investigate two other shootings that may be linked to the salon shooting.

"Presently, there have been no arrests on these instances," Garcia mentioned, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced 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 a similar vehicle.

This picture shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are searching for a man who opened fireplace contained in 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 gave the impression to be "a darkish coloration minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked across the car parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening fire as soon as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia mentioned the taking pictures on the salon might be linked to at least one that occurred a day before and one which passed off last month.

Police discovered from witness experiences that on April 2, a driver in a pink minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired shots at three companies. Nobody was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we now have reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the potential connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia stated. “This contains the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Process Pressure. We are also working with North Texas police companions to determine if this prison action has or is going down of their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, May 12, 2022. A man opened fire inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Garcia stated police might be increasing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas in the city where there are large Asian American populations.

“We are turning to every resident of the town of Dallas to maintain a watch out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place right here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan experiences:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.