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

The incident could also be linked to shootings at Asian-run companies, police stated.

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the May 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 might be linked to a collection of recent shootings at Asian-run companies in the city, police stated.

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, in keeping with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and were transported to an area hospital, based on 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.

"Throughout our investigation, detectives realized that two years in the past Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks 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 Area Office, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace 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 office in Dallas told ABC Information on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't in a position to remark additional at the moment."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the owner and an worker – were present on the meeting, according to WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia stated that police continue to research two different shootings that may be linked to the salon shooting.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced throughout a Friday press conference that regulation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses could also be related.” The suspect in every incident was driving an analogous car.

This photo reveals the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man who opened fireplace inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

Police said they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a dark color minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane after which walked across the parking lot and into the institution, allegedly opening fire as quickly as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia mentioned the shooting on the salon is perhaps linked to one that occurred a day earlier than and one which happened final month.

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

And on May 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automotive drove by and shot into Asian-run businesses close to 4849 Sunnyvale Road, police said.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we now have reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the doable connection and ask for their help,” Garcia mentioned. “This contains the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Job Pressure. We're also working with North Texas police partners to find out if this felony action has or is happening in their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia stated police can be increasing the presence of excessive 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 maintain an eye fixed out and safeguard our city,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place right here.”

These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of attacks focusing 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.