Suspected gunman who attacked Asian hair salon faces more charges, Dallas police say

After Dallas police announced the arrest of a man they believe is responsible for injuring three Asian women in a racially motivated shooting at a hair salon last week, the police department said Wednesday that the suspect faces additional charges.

Jeremy Theron Smith, 36, was initially arrested on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon connected to the May 11 shooting in the Koreatown neighborhood on Royal Lane near Interstate 35E.

Police announced that Smith now faces an additional four charges of aggravated assault, bringing his total charges to seven.

“These charges stem from the four other people inside the salon that were not injured,” police said. “The bond for these charges will be set by a magistrate.”

Smith’s girlfriend told police that Smith had been having delusions about Asian people after he was in a car crash two years ago with an Asian man, according to his arrest warrant affidavit released Tuesday.

When Smith is around an Asian person, his girlfriend told police, he has had “near panic attacks.” She added that Smith has also had “delusions that the Asian mob is after him or attempting to harm him,” the affidavit stated. She also said Smith had been “admitted to several mental health facilities” because of the delusions, and had been fired from a job at an Ulta Beauty warehouse for “verbally attacking” his Asian boss.

Police said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon that they are investigating the possibility that the salon shooting was the result of a mental illness but that, for now, evidence points them to believe the attack was a racist hate crime.

Police also are investigating whether Smith was involved in other recent shootings targeting Asian-American businesses, but he has not been charged in those cases.