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

The incident may be related to shootings at Asian-run companies, police said.

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Might 11 shooting of three women in a hair salon in the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could possibly be linked to a series of current shootings at Asian-run businesses in the metropolis, police said.

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

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized 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 ago Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he is around anybody of Asian descent."

The Dallas Police Division and the FBI are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

"The Dallas FBI Field Workplace, 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 field workplace in Dallas told ABC News on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not capable of comment additional presently."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the proprietor and an employee – were present at the meeting, in accordance with WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women didn't reveal their names.

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

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced during a Friday press conference that regulation enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run companies could also be linked.” The suspect in each incident was driving a similar automobile.

This photograph exhibits the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened fireplace inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Police mentioned they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a darkish shade minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked throughout the parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth 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 said the shooting on the salon might be linked to at least one that happened a day earlier than and one which passed off last month.

Police discovered from witness reports that on April 2, a driver in a crimson minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired photographs 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 close to 4849 Sunnyvale Street, police stated.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the doable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia mentioned. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Process Force. We're also working with North Texas police companions to find out if this prison action has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police might be growing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis where there are large Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.