Dallas Koreatown salon shooting suspect indicted for anti-Asian hate crime

A Dallas grand jury has indicted a 37-year-old man for committing aggravated assault after he allegedly shot three Asian women in a Dallas Koreatown hair salon in what police have labeled a hate crime.

Driving the news: Jeremy Smith intentionally targeted the women "because of his bias or prejudice against Asian Americans," according to the Dallas County district attorney’s office.

Details: On May 11 at 2:20pm, Smith allegedly fired 13 shots from a .22-caliber rifle into the salon, injuring three women and posing as a threat to four others.

• He is charged with seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Each carries a hate crime enhancement and is punishable by five years to life in prison.
• Dallas Police chief Eddie García previously said Smith's "delusions" about Asians began after he was involved in a car crash with an Asian man two years ago.
• Smith is detained at the Dallas County jail on a $700,000 bond.

Worth noting: Police continue to investigate two other drive-by shootings that targeted Asian-run businesses.

The big picture: Major U.S. cities set records in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2021. Asian Americans are adjusting to a new long-term reality as the number of violent attacks and hate incidents continues to climb.

• Americans continue to wrongly blame people of Asian descent for the coronavirus — 21% of U.S. adults now say Asian Americans are at least partly responsible for COVID, up from 11% in 2021, per a May poll.
• Stop AAPI Hate's latest report found that self-reported anti-AAPI hate incidents were most likely to occur in public spaces and businesses.

Go deeper:

• The Korean women shot at Dallas hair salon speak out
• Asians in America reach new level of duality