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Dallas police announce the arrest of gunman in hair salon shooting, says it was a hate crime

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Dallas police announced on Tuesday they had arrested the suspect in the shooting that injured three women of Korean descent in a hair salon in the city.

Police confirmed they had the suspect in custody on Tuesday, and that they had determined the shooting was a hate crime.

Jeremy Theron Smith, 36, was taken into custody and charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon after he entered the hair salon and began firing. Police say Smith had delusions around Asian people and had panic attacks around them since he was involved in a car accident with an Asian man two years ago.

Authorities say Smith was in the vicinity of the salon that day “looking for a business that could replace a broken pane of glass from a garage door,” and had gone into the Hair World salon on Royal Lane during his trip. Police say they are investigating two other shootings at Asian-run businesses in the area on suspicion that they may be connected to the Hair World salon.

“Right now it’s an issue of hate — it’s a hate crime,” Police Chief Eddie Garcia said. “However that manifests itself, I’m not here to say that. I can tell you that I know our community sees it as a hate crime, I see it as a hate crime, and so do our men and women.” The FBI announced it is also investigating the incident as a hate crime just hours before Smith’s arrest.

Arrest documents show Smith had previously been fired from a job for verbally assaulting his Asian boss, and that he had been institutionalized several times in recent years over his irrational fear of Asian people. 

ARTICLE: LAURA SPIVAK

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: FLIPBOARD.COM

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Laura Spivak

Laura is a freelance writer out of Maryland and a mom of three. Her background is in political science and international relations, and she has been doing political writing and editing for 17 years. Laura has also written parenting pieces for the Today Show and is currently working on writing a collection of remarkable true stories about normal people. She writes for FBA because unbiased news is vital to unity, and readers deserve the facts free of opinion.

Laura is a freelance writer out of Maryland and a mom of three. Her background is in political science and international relations, and she has been doing political writing and editing for 17 years. Laura has also written parenting pieces for the Today Show and is currently working on writing a collection of remarkable true stories about normal people. She writes for FBA because unbiased news is vital to unity, and readers deserve the facts free of opinion.

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