Man arrested in Dallas Korean-owned hair salon shooting indicted on hate crimes
By Chris Boyette, CNN
A man accused of shooting three people in a Dallas hair salon in May has been indicted on seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as a hate crime, according to the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
“A Dallas County Grand Jury has returned multiple indictments on Jeremy Smith, 37, charged in connection to shootings allegedly motivated by bias or prejudice against Asian Americans — thus classified under Texas law as a hate crime,” the DA’s office said in a news release Tuesday.
The grand jury met August 4, according to the DA’s office.
Smith was arrested May 16 and remains in the Lew Sterrett Justice Center on a $700,000 bond, the DA’s office said.
CNN has reached out to Smith’s attorney, Don Guidry, for comment.
Suspect fired multiple shots and fled, affidavits said
On May 11, Smith entered Hair World Salon, a Korean-owned business, with a .22 caliber rifle and began shooting, according to the probable cause affidavits obtained by CNN. He fired approximately 13 times, hitting three people before running back to his vehicle and fleeing, according to the affidavit.
One person was shot in her right forearm, one was shot in the foot and one was shot in the lower back, the affidavit states.
Authorities have surveillance video of a man who matches the complainants’ description running back to a vehicle, the affidavit says. The affidavit describes the vehicle seen on the surveillance video as a red Honda Odyssey minivan.
Smith said he was in the area of the shooting at the time, the affidavit states, adding that he owned two guns: a .380 handgun and a .22 caliber rifle “that looks like an ‘AK-47,’ ” and he was the only person with access to his vehicle. A .380 handgun magazine with four live rounds in it was found in the suspect’s pocket when he was taken into custody.
On May 16, a search warrant for Smith’s vehicle was executed and police found a cell phone, a Jimenez .380 handgun, a gun magazine with four live rounds and a box of Winchester .380 ammunition with six live rounds, the affidavit states.
Police interviewed Smith’s girlfriend who told them Smith had been in a motor vehicle crash about two years ago with an Asian male, and since then, Smith “has had near panic attacks when he is around anyone of Asian descent. Anytime the suspect (Smith) is around anyone of Asian descent he begins having delusions that the Asian mob is after him or attempting to harm him. Due to the delusions, the suspect has been admitted to several mental health facilities,” according to the affidavit.
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CNN’s Andy Rose, Paradise Afshar and Raja Razek contributed to this report.
