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

The incident could also be connected to shootings at Asian-run companies, police mentioned.

17 Could 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 city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and might be linked to a series of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses in the city, police said.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, based on ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal injuries and had been transported to a local hospital, in line with police.

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

"Throughout our investigation, detectives learned that two years ago Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he's round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Field Office, the U.S. Attorney’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 field office in Dallas instructed ABC News on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to completely examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't capable of remark additional at the moment."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the owner and an worker – were current at the assembly, in response to WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police continue to analyze two different shootings which may be linked to the salon capturing.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced throughout a Friday press conference that law enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run businesses may be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving an identical vehicle.

This photo shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened fireplace contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three people.

Police said they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what appeared to be "a dark coloration minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked throughout the parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening fire as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police also released a safety picture of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia said the shooting at the salon might be linked to 1 that occurred a day before and one which befell last month.

Police discovered from witness reviews 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 Could 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automobile drove by and shot into Asian-run companies close to 4849 Sunnyvale Avenue, police stated.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've got reached out to our partners to make them aware of the doable connection and ask for their help,” Garcia said. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Job Drive. We are also working with North Texas police companions to determine if this legal action has or is happening in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Might 12, 2022. A man opened fire inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three folks.

Garcia mentioned police will probably be rising the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis the place there are massive Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan experiences:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.