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

The incident may be related to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police mentioned.

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the Might 11 capturing of three ladies in a hair salon in the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a series of latest shootings at Asian-run businesses within the city, police said.

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

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

"During our investigation, detectives discovered that two years in the past Smith had a motor vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he's around anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Subject 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 area office in Dallas instructed ABC Information on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to completely investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we're not capable of remark further at this time."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the proprietor and an worker – were present at the assembly, in response to WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The ladies did not reveal their names.

Garcia said that police continue to analyze two other shootings that may be linked to the salon shooting.

"At the moment, there have been no arrests on these cases," Garcia mentioned, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run businesses could also be related.” The suspect in each incident was driving the same car.

This photograph shows the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are in search of a man who opened fire inside 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 appeared to be "a dark shade minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane after which walked across the car parking zone and into the establishment, allegedly opening hearth as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police additionally launched a security image of a maroon minivan they mentioned the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the capturing on the salon is perhaps linked to at least one that happened a day before and one which took place final month.

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

And on Could 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or car drove by and shot into Asian-run companies close to 4849 Sunnyvale Road, police stated.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have reached out to our partners to make them aware of the potential connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This consists of the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Process Power. We are additionally 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, Might 12, 2022. A person opened fireplace inside the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

Garcia said police might be rising the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas in the metropolis the place there are giant Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.