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

The incident could also be linked 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 capturing of three ladies in a hair salon within the metropolis'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 owner, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, in response to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal accidents and were transported to an area hospital, according to police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia identified the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith during 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 in the past Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks 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 Field Workplace, 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 area workplace in Dallas informed ABC Information on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we're not capable of remark further at this time."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the proprietor and an worker – were current on the meeting, in keeping 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 continue to analyze two other shootings that could be linked to the salon capturing.

"At this time, there have been no arrests on these cases," Garcia said, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses could also be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving an identical vehicle.

This photograph shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man who opened fire contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

Police mentioned they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a darkish shade minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the car parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening hearth as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police additionally released a security image of a maroon minivan they mentioned the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia said the capturing on the salon may be linked to 1 that happened a day before and one that happened last month.

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

And on May 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automotive drove by and shot into Asian-run businesses near 4849 Sunnyvale Road, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we now have reached out to our companions to make them aware of the attainable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia stated. “This includes the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Task Drive. We're additionally working with North Texas police companions to determine if this criminal motion has or is going down in their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia mentioned police can be increasing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the city the place there are massive Asian American populations.

“We're turning to every resident of town of Dallas to maintain an eye fixed 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 Americans across the nation, which spiked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.