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

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

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the Might 11 taking pictures of three girls in a hair salon in the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and may very well be linked to a series of recent shootings at Asian-run companies within the city, police said.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, based on ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal accidents and were transported to an area hospital, in response to police.

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

"During our investigation, detectives learned that two years ago Smith had a motorcar crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he's round anyone of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Subject Workplace, 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 subject workplace in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We are in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to remark further at the moment."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the proprietor and an worker – had been current at the meeting, in accordance with WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face coated. The women did not reveal their names.

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

"Presently, there have been no arrests on these instances," Garcia stated, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced during a Friday press convention that legislation enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run businesses could also be connected.” The suspect in each incident was driving a similar automobile.

This photograph shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened fireplace contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Police stated they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a darkish shade minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane after which walked across the parking lot and into the establishment, allegedly opening fire as soon as he entered the salon.

Police additionally launched a safety picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia stated the shooting on the salon could be linked to 1 that happened a day before and one which befell last month.

Police discovered from witness stories that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired shots at three businesses. Nobody was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have now reached out to our partners to make them aware of the potential connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This includes the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Activity Power. We are additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this legal motion has or is taking place in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Could 12, 2022. A person opened fireplace inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three folks.

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

“We are turning to each resident of the town of Dallas to keep a watch out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place right here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.