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

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

17 Might 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 metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and may very well be linked to a collection of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses within the metropolis, police stated.

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

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia identified the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout a press conference 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 said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he is round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Area Workplace, the U.S. Attorney’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 area office in Dallas told ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly examine this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to comment additional right now."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the proprietor and an employee – were current at the assembly, in response to WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face coated. The ladies didn't reveal their names.

Garcia said that police continue to investigate two different shootings that could be linked to the salon capturing.

"Right now, there have been no arrests on these circumstances," Garcia mentioned, including that the investigation is ongoing.

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

This photo exhibits the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are searching for a man who opened fire contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

Police said they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a dark shade minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the parking lot and into the institution, allegedly opening fire as quickly as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia mentioned the capturing on the salon is likely to be linked to 1 that occurred a day earlier than and one that passed off final month.

Police learned from witness experiences that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired pictures at three businesses. No one was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the doable connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Activity Force. We are also working with North Texas police companions to determine if this legal motion has or is going down in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, May 12, 2022. A person opened fire inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Garcia said police might be rising the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the city the place there are massive Asian American populations.

“We're turning to every resident of the city of Dallas to maintain an eye out and safeguard our city,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.