Suspect identified in Dallas salon shooting 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 connection with the Could 11 taking pictures of three ladies in a hair salon in the city's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could be linked to a sequence of current shootings at Asian-run companies within the metropolis, police mentioned.

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

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

"Throughout our investigation, detectives realized that two years in the past Smith had a motorized vehicle crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults 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 Area Office, 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 told ABC Information on Monday. "We are in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly examine this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't able to remark additional at this time."

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

Two of the capturing victims – the owner and an worker – were current on the assembly, in keeping with WFAA. The worker spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face lined. The women did not reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police continue to analyze two other shootings that could be linked to the salon taking pictures.

"Presently, there have been no arrests on these circumstances," Garcia said, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press conference that legislation enforcement “concluded three current shootings of Asian run businesses could also be connected.” The suspect in each incident was driving an identical vehicle.

This photograph shows the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened hearth inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three people.

Police said they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a dark shade minivan-type automobile" 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 additionally launched a safety picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the capturing on the salon could be linked to at least one that occurred a day earlier than and one that took place final month.

Police realized from witness reviews that on April 2, a driver in a crimson minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired photographs at three companies. 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 said.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we now have reached out to our companions to make them conscious of the possible connection and ask for his or her help,” Garcia stated. “This includes the FBI and member businesses of the Joint Terrorism Job Force. We are additionally working with North Texas police companions to find out if this criminal action has or is taking place of their jurisdictions.”

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

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

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

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.