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

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

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the Could 11 capturing of three ladies in a hair salon in the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and might be linked to a sequence of current shootings at Asian-run businesses in the metropolis, police stated.

The victims, the salon owner, an employee and a buyer, are all Korean, in keeping with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal injuries and had been transported to an area hospital, in accordance with police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia identified the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout 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 said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he's round anyone 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 discipline office in Dallas advised ABC News on Monday. "We're in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering collectively to thoroughly investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to comment additional presently."

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

Two of the taking pictures victims – the owner and an employee – were current on the meeting, in keeping with WFAA. The employee spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face coated. The ladies did not reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police proceed to investigate two other shootings that may be linked to the salon capturing.

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced during a Friday press conference that law enforcement “concluded three latest shootings of Asian run businesses may be linked.” The suspect in each incident was driving an identical car.

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

Police stated they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a darkish color minivan-type automobile" on Royal Lane and then walked across the car parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening fireplace as soon as he entered the salon.

Police additionally launched a security picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the taking pictures at the salon is likely to be linked to at least one that occurred a day earlier than and one that came about last month.

Police learned from witness reports that on April 2, a driver in a pink minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run businesses and fired pictures at three businesses. Nobody was injured.

And on May 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automobile drove by and shot into Asian-run companies near 4849 Sunnyvale Avenue, police stated.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have now reached out to our partners to make them aware of the possible connection and ask for his or her assistance,” Garcia mentioned. “This includes the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Pressure. We're also working with North Texas police partners to find out if this prison motion has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Could 12, 2022. A person opened fire contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

Garcia said police can be increasing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the metropolis where there are giant Asian American populations.

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

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

ABC's Jim Ryan reviews:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.