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

The incident may be related to shootings at Asian-run companies, police said.

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the Could 11 shooting of three girls in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and may very well be linked to a collection of latest shootings at Asian-run companies within the metropolis, police stated.

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a customer, are all Korean, in line with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal injuries and had been transported to an area hospital, in keeping with 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 in the past Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he is around anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Discipline Office, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace 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 office in Dallas informed ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly examine this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't capable of remark further at the moment."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the owner and an employee – have been current at the assembly, in keeping with WFAA. The worker spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia said that police proceed to analyze two different shootings which may be linked to the salon shooting.

"Right now, there have been no arrests on these cases," Garcia said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

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

This photograph reveals the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are on the lookout for a person who opened hearth contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Police stated they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a darkish colour minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane after which walked across the car parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening hearth as quickly as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia stated the capturing on the salon might be linked to 1 that occurred a day earlier than and one that passed off final month.

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

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've reached out to our partners to make them aware of the attainable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia said. “This contains the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. We are also working with North Texas police companions to find out if this felony motion has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

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

Garcia mentioned police will probably be increasing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the city where there are massive Asian American populations.

“We are turning to each resident of town of Dallas to keep an eye out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia stated. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan stories:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.