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

The incident could also be related to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police said.

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the Could 11 taking pictures of three women in a hair salon within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a series of recent shootings at Asian-run businesses within the metropolis, police said.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an employee and a buyer, are all Korean, in line with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal accidents and had been transported to a neighborhood hospital, based on 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.

"Throughout our investigation, detectives discovered that two years ago Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he's round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Area Workplace, the U.S. Lawyer’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 field office in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we're not capable of comment further at this time."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the proprietor and an employee – have been current on the meeting, according to WFAA. The employee spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police proceed to research two different shootings that may be linked to the salon taking pictures.

"At this time, 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 law enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run companies could also be related.” The suspect in every incident was driving the same car.

This picture shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are searching for a person who opened fireplace inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Police stated they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a dark colour minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane after which walked across the parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening fireplace as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police also released a security image of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the capturing at the salon is perhaps linked to 1 that occurred a day before and one which came about final month.

Police discovered from witness studies that on April 2, a driver in a red minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired photographs at three companies. 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 Road, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have now reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the possible connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia said. “This contains the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Job Drive. We're also working with North Texas police companions to determine if this criminal action has or is happening in their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police will probably be rising the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas in the city where there are massive Asian American populations.

“We are turning to every resident of the city of Dallas to maintain a watch out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia mentioned. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.