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

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

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Could 11 taking pictures of three ladies in a hair salon within the metropolis'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 companies within the city, police stated.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, in accordance with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and were transported to a neighborhood hospital, in keeping with police.

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

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

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

"The Dallas FBI Discipline 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 discipline workplace in Dallas instructed ABC News 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 in a position to comment additional at the moment."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the proprietor and an employee – have been present at the assembly, in line with WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face coated. The ladies didn't reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police proceed to research two other shootings that may be linked to the salon shooting.

"At this time, there have been no arrests on those circumstances," Garcia mentioned, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press conference that regulation enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run companies may be linked.” The suspect in each incident was driving the same vehicle.

This photograph shows the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened hearth inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three folks.

Police said they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a dark color minivan-type car" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the parking lot and into the institution, allegedly opening fireplace as soon as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia stated the taking pictures on the salon might be linked to at least one that occurred a day earlier than and one that took place 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 shots at three companies. No one was injured.

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

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

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

Garcia mentioned police will probably 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 right here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.