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

The incident may be connected to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police stated.

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

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

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, in line with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal accidents and were transported to an area hospital, in keeping with police.

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

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

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

"The Dallas FBI Discipline Office, the U.S. Attorney’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 field office in Dallas advised ABC Information on Monday. "We are in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't capable of comment further at the moment."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the owner and an worker – had been current on the meeting, according to WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police proceed to investigate two different shootings which may be linked to the salon shooting.

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

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

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

Police mentioned they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a darkish colour minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked across the car parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening fireplace 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 is likely to be linked to one that happened a day earlier than and one which happened final month.

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

And on Could 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automotive drove by and shot into Asian-run companies close to 4849 Sunnyvale Avenue, 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 help,” Garcia stated. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Power. 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, Might 12, 2022. A man opened fireplace contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

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

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC Information' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.