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

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

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the Might 11 shooting of three girls in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and might be linked to a series of current shootings at Asian-run businesses within the city, 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 accidents and had 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 convention on Tuesday. Garcia mentioned that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"During our investigation, detectives learned that two years ago Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he is around anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Discipline Workplace, the U.S. Legal professional’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 office in Dallas told ABC Information on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to totally examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to comment further right now."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the owner and an worker – have been current on the assembly, in accordance with WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face covered. The ladies didn't reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police proceed to analyze two different shootings that could be linked to the salon shooting.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced throughout a Friday press conference that law enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses could also be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving the same car.

This photo reveals the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are searching for a man who opened fireplace inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Police mentioned they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a darkish shade minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane after which walked throughout the parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening fire as soon as he entered the salon.

Police also released a security picture of a maroon minivan they mentioned the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia said the taking pictures on the salon might be linked to one that happened a day before and one that came about last month.

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

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have now reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the attainable connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia stated. “This consists of the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Task Power. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to determine if this felony action has or is going down in their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police will likely be increasing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas in the metropolis where there are giant Asian American populations.

“We're turning to each resident of 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 Individuals throughout the nation, which spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan experiences:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.