Dallas Koreatown salon shooting was anti-Asian hate crime: indictments

A man charged in connection with a shooting in Dallas’s Koreatown earlier this year was indicted for alleged hate crimes against Asian Americans. 

Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot announced Tuesday that a Dallas County grand jury had returned seven indictments against 37-year-old Jeremy Smith for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. 

Smith was arrested after a May shooting at Hair World Salon in Koreatown. The suspect fired 13 shots inside the salon, injuring three women, according to the DA. 

“The shootings were allegedly motivated by bias or prejudice against Asian Americans – thus classified under Texas law as a hate crime,” the DA’s office wrote in Tuesday’s announcement. 

Anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked in recent years, going up by more than 300 percent between 2020 and 2021, according to recent data.

Smith allegedly targeted the women at Hair World because of prejudice against Asian Americans, and the grand jury found probable cause to indict him in connection with the incident.

Smith’s girlfriend told authorities shortly after the shooting that Smith, who is Black, had delusional fears of Asian Americans.

Smith has reportedly been in custody since his arrest in May, and is held at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas.