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

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

17 Might 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the May 11 taking pictures of three women in a hair salon within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a collection of recent shootings at Asian-run businesses within the city, police said.

The victims, the salon owner, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, in accordance with 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 throughout a press conference on Tuesday. Garcia stated that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"During our investigation, detectives discovered that two years in the past Smith had a motorcar crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he is around anyone of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Field Workplace, the U.S. Legal professional’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 field office in Dallas advised ABC Information on Monday. "We are in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to totally investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not capable of remark further right now."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the proprietor and an worker – were present on the meeting, based on WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The ladies didn't reveal their names.

Garcia said that police continue to analyze two different shootings that may be linked to the salon taking pictures.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses may be related.” The suspect in each incident was driving an analogous vehicle.

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

Police mentioned they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a darkish coloration minivan-type car" 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 released a safety image of a maroon minivan they said the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia said the capturing at the salon is likely to be linked to one that occurred a day earlier than and one which befell last month.

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

And on Could 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or car drove by and shot into Asian-run businesses near 4849 Sunnyvale Street, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have now reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the doable connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia stated. “This contains the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Activity Pressure. We are also working with North Texas police companions to find out if this criminal action has or is going down of their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Might 12, 2022. A person opened fire contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three people.

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

“We are turning to each resident of town of Dallas to maintain an eye fixed 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 Individuals throughout the nation, which spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan reports:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.