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

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

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in reference to the May 11 capturing of three women in a hair salon within the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and may very well be linked to a series of recent shootings at Asian-run businesses in the city, police mentioned.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a buyer, are all Korean, in response to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies 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 during a press convention on Tuesday. Garcia mentioned that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"Throughout our investigation, detectives discovered that two years ago Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia said. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he is round anyone of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Area Office, the U.S. Legal professional’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 told 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're not capable of remark further presently."

Police met with group members at a town corridor in Koreatown on Monday amid concerns for the public's safety.

Two of the capturing victims – the owner and an employee – were present on the assembly, in response to WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia said that police proceed to investigate two different shootings that may be linked to the salon shooting.

"At this time, there have been no arrests on those cases," Garcia mentioned, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced throughout a Friday press conference that law enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run companies could also be related.” The suspect in each incident was driving an identical car.

This photograph reveals the interior of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Could 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man who opened fire contained in 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 appeared to be "a dark color minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked across the parking lot and into the establishment, allegedly opening hearth as soon as he entered the salon.

Police also launched a safety image of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia stated the shooting 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 studies that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired pictures at three companies. No one was injured.

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

“Out of an abundance of caution, now we have reached out to our companions 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 Force. We are also working with North Texas police partners to find out if this prison motion has or is taking place in their jurisdictions.”

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

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

“We're turning to each resident of town of Dallas to maintain a watch out and safeguard our metropolis,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan studies:

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson and contributed to this report.