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

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

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Could 11 taking pictures of three ladies in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and may very well be linked to a sequence of current shootings at Asian-run businesses within the metropolis, police said.

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

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith during a press conference on Tuesday. Garcia stated that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"Throughout our investigation, detectives realized that two years ago Smith had a motorcar crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he's around anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Field Office, 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 subject workplace in Dallas told ABC News on Monday. "We are in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to totally investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we're not in a position to comment further right now."

Police met with neighborhood members at a city hall in Koreatown on Monday amid considerations for the general public's safety.

Two of the capturing victims – the owner and an employee – had been current on the assembly, in keeping with WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The ladies didn't reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police proceed to research two other shootings that could be linked to the salon capturing.

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

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

This photograph reveals the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man 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 dark shade minivan-type car" on Royal Lane and then walked across the parking lot and into the establishment, allegedly opening fire as soon as he entered the salon.

Police also released a safety picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia stated the shooting at the salon might be linked to at least one that happened a day before and one that passed off last month.

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've reached out to our companions to make them aware of the potential connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia said. “This consists of the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Activity Power. We are also working with North Texas police partners to find out if this felony action has or is taking place in their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police will likely be growing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis the place there are massive Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.