Suspect recognized in Dallas salon taking pictures as FBI opens hate crime investigation

The incident could also be related to shootings at Asian-run businesses, police said.

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

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

The victims, the salon proprietor, an employee and a buyer, are all Korean, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal accidents and had been transported to a local hospital, in keeping with police.

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

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

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

"The Dallas FBI Subject Workplace, the U.S. Attorney’s Office 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 discipline office in Dallas instructed ABC Information on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to totally examine this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we aren't able to remark additional presently."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the owner and an worker – have been present on 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 stated that police continue to investigate two different shootings that may be linked to the salon taking pictures.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced during a Friday press convention that legislation enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run companies could also be connected.” The suspect in every incident was driving an identical vehicle.

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

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

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

Garcia mentioned the taking pictures on the salon might be linked to 1 that happened a day earlier than and one which befell last month.

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

And on Could 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 warning, we have reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the attainable connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia said. “This contains the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Job Drive. We're additionally working with North Texas police partners to find out if this prison action has or is happening in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Might 12, 2022. A man opened hearth contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Garcia stated police will be growing the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the city where there are large Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.