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

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

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

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

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, according to 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 motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he is around anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Subject Workplace, the U.S. Attorney’s Office 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 workplace in Dallas informed ABC News on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't capable of comment further right now."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the owner and an worker – had been present on the assembly, in accordance with WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face coated. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police continue to investigate two other shootings that could be linked to the salon taking pictures.

"At this time, there have been no arrests on those instances," Garcia mentioned, including 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 may be related.” The suspect in every incident was driving an analogous automobile.

This photograph exhibits the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man who opened hearth contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

Police stated they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a dark colour minivan-type car" on Royal Lane and then walked across the car parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening fire as soon as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia said the taking pictures at the salon is likely to be linked to at least one that happened a day before and one which passed off final month.

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

And on Could 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automobile drove by and shot into Asian-run businesses near 4849 Sunnyvale Street, police said.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have reached out to our companions to make them aware of the doable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia said. “This includes the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Process Pressure. We're additionally working with North Texas police companions to determine if this legal motion has or is going down in their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia stated police will be increasing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the city the place there are large Asian American populations.

“We're turning to every resident of town of Dallas to keep a watch out and safeguard our city,” Garcia mentioned. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.