Dallas police have arrested a suspect in connection with a shooting at a Koreatown hair salon that injured three women. The FBI is investigating the shooting as a hate crime, The Guardian reports.
On Monday, May 16, police arrested 36-year-old Jeremy Theron Smith, The Dallas Morning News reports.
The shooting occurred last Wednesday, May 11, at World Hair Salon in Dallas’ Koreatown. Officials say Smith parked his red 2004 Honda Odyssey across the street from the salon. He fired 13 shots with his .22-caliber rifle once inside.
NBC 5 DFW obtained a copy of the arrest warrant affidavit identifying Smith. The document states that Smith’s girlfriend told police he was involved in a car crash with an Asian driver a couple of years ago. Since the crash, she said Smith has believed the Asian mob was coming after him. She claims he even had panic attacks when Asian people were around.
The FBI announced Tuesday that it was investigating the shooting as a hate crime.
“We are in close communication with Dallas police and are partnering together to thoroughly investigate this incident,” said a Dallas FBI spokesperson, Melinda Urbina, according to The Guardian. “As this is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to comment further at this time.”
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