Suspect identified in Dallas salon taking pictures as FBI opens hate crime investigation

The incident could also be related to shootings at Asian-run companies, police mentioned.

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Might 11 shooting of three ladies in a hair salon within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could possibly be linked to a sequence of latest shootings at Asian-run companies in the metropolis, police said.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, in keeping with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women 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 during a press convention on Tuesday. Garcia stated that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"During our investigation, detectives discovered that two years in the past Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he's around anyone of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Discipline 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 field workplace in Dallas told ABC Information on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to comment additional right now."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the owner and an employee – had been current at the meeting, in line with WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The ladies did not reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police continue to research two other shootings which may be linked to the salon capturing.

"Presently, there have been no arrests on those circumstances," Garcia stated, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press conference that law enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run companies may be related.” The suspect in every incident was driving the same car.

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

Police stated they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a dark color minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked throughout the parking lot and into the establishment, allegedly opening fireplace as soon as he entered the salon.

Police also launched a safety image of a maroon minivan they mentioned the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia stated the taking pictures at the salon might be linked to at least one that happened a day earlier than and one which took place final month.

Police realized from witness studies that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired photographs at three businesses. No one was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we now have reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the potential connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This contains the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Process Power. We are also working with North Texas police partners to determine if this legal action has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia said police will be increasing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis where there are giant Asian American populations.

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

These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of attacks focusing on Asian People across the nation, which spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.