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

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

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the Could 11 capturing of three girls in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a sequence 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, based on ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and had been transported to an area hospital, in line with police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout a press convention on Tuesday. Garcia said that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"Throughout our investigation, detectives realized that two years in the past Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "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 Field Workplace, the U.S. Attorney’s Office 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 workplace in Dallas informed ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not in a position to remark further at this time."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the proprietor and an employee – were present on the meeting, in line with WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face coated. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police continue to analyze two other shootings that could be linked to the salon capturing.

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

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

This photo 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 area, wounding three folks.

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

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

Garcia said the shooting on the salon might be linked to 1 that occurred a day earlier than and one which occurred final month.

Police discovered from witness studies that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired shots at three companies. No one was injured.

And on Might 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or car drove by and shot into Asian-run companies near 4849 Sunnyvale Street, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we now have reached out to our partners to make them aware of the doable connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia stated. “This contains the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Activity Drive. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this criminal action has or is going down in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Could 12, 2022. A man opened fireplace contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

Garcia stated police will be increasing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas within the city the place there are massive Asian American populations.

“We are turning to every resident of town of Dallas to keep an eye fixed out and safeguard our city,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan stories:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.