Suspect identified in Dallas salon capturing 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 Could 11 taking pictures of three women in a hair salon within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a sequence of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses in the city, police mentioned.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an employee and a buyer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and have been transported to a local hospital, in accordance with police.

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

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

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

"The Dallas FBI Discipline 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 area workplace in Dallas advised ABC News on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to totally investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to comment additional at this time."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the proprietor and an worker – were present on the assembly, based on WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face coated. The ladies did not reveal their names.

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

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press convention that regulation enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run businesses could also be linked.” The suspect in every incident was driving the same vehicle.

This photograph exhibits the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man who opened hearth inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three folks.

Police stated they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a dark color minivan-type vehicle" 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 launched a safety picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia said the shooting on the salon is likely to be linked to at least one that happened a day earlier than and one which took place last month.

Police discovered from witness experiences that on April 2, a driver in a red minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired photographs at three companies. Nobody was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of warning, we've got reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the doable connection and ask for their help,” Garcia said. “This includes the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Job Drive. We're also working with North Texas police companions to find out if this felony action has or is going down in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, May 12, 2022. A person opened hearth inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three individuals.

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

“We are turning to every resident of the town of Dallas to maintain an eye fixed out and safeguard our city,” Garcia stated. “Hate has no place right here.”

These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of assaults concentrating on Asian Americans across the nation, which spiked in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.