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

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

17 Could 2022, 21:08

• 7 min learn

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

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

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia identified the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith throughout 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 stated. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic attacks and delusions when he's round anybody of Asian descent."

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

"The Dallas FBI Field 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 area workplace in Dallas advised ABC News on Monday. "We are in close communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to thoroughly investigate this incident. As that is an ongoing investigation, we are not capable of remark additional at the moment."

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

Two of the shooting victims – the proprietor and an employee – had been current at the assembly, in keeping with WFAA. The employee spoke with the assistance of an interpreter and her was face lined. The ladies did not reveal their names.

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

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

The arrest comes days after Garcia announced during a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses may be linked.” The suspect in every incident was driving an identical automobile.

This photo shows the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are looking for a man who opened hearth contained in the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Police mentioned they realized from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what seemed to be "a dark shade minivan-type car" on Royal Lane after which walked throughout the parking lot and into the establishment, allegedly opening fire as quickly as he entered the salon.

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

Garcia stated the shooting on the salon is likely to be linked to 1 that occurred a day earlier than and one that passed off last month.

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

And on May 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automotive drove by and shot into Asian-run companies close to 4849 Sunnyvale Avenue, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we've got reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the possible connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia said. “This includes the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Power. We are also working with North Texas police companions to find out if this prison motion has or is happening in their jurisdictions.”

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

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

“We're turning to every resident of the city of Dallas to keep an eye out and safeguard our city,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place right here.”

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

ABC's Jim Ryan stories:

ABC News' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.