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

The incident may be related 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 shooting of three ladies in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could possibly be linked to a series of recent shootings at Asian-run businesses in the city, police stated.

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

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized 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 discovered that two years in the past Smith had a motorcar 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 Department and the FBI are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

"The Dallas FBI Discipline Workplace, the U.S. Lawyer’s Office 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 shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we're not able to comment additional right now."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the proprietor and an worker – have been present on the assembly, in keeping with WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police continue to research two different shootings that could be linked to the salon shooting.

"At the moment, there have been no arrests on those cases," Garcia stated, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

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

This picture reveals the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are on the lookout for a person who opened hearth inside 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 seemed to be "a dark coloration minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked across the parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening fire as soon as he entered the salon.

Police additionally launched a security picture of a maroon minivan they mentioned the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia said the capturing at the salon is perhaps linked to one that occurred a day earlier than and one that happened last month.

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

And on May 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automobile drove by and shot into Asian-run companies close to 4849 Sunnyvale Street, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've reached out to our partners to make them aware of the doable connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Activity Drive. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this criminal motion has or is going down of their jurisdictions.”

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

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

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.