CARROLLTON, Texas - Court documents reveal the motive for Tuesday’s mass shooting at an Asian shopping center in Carrollton.
Four people were shot at the K-Towne strip mall at Highway 121 and Hebron Road. A fifth person was shot in his apartment on Old Denton Highway.
The suspect, 69-year-old Seung Ho Han, waived his rights and told police he went to the shopping center to exact revenge rather than pay his rent.
Carrollton Shooting
What's new:
A memorial to Tuesday’s tragedy now sits inside the Korean Association of Dallas office.
Officials have identified the deceased victims as Sung Rae Cho and Edward Schleigh. Three others – Olivia Kim, Yo Sung Kim, and Young Yoo – were wounded but are expected to survive.
Han has been charged with the capital murder of multiple persons and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He will be transferred to the Denton County jail.
When his arrest warrant was issued, no bond was set.
Carrollton shooting: 2 dead, 3 injured after suspect began shooting over business disagreements
A suspect in Carrollton carried out two shootings on Tuesday that left two people dead and three hospitalized. Police said the shooting began over business disagreements.
Dig deeper:
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the bloodshed was over a business deal gone really bad.
The wounded victims told detectives they were at the strip mall with Cho for a meeting when Han showed up and began shooting.
Police were looking for Han when they got a call about the shooting at the apartment complex on Old Denton Road.
Schleigh’s attorney showed up and told detectives he was in a business deal with the owners of the strip mall where the first shooting happened.
Officers located Han across the street outside the H-Mart supermarket and took him into custody.
During questioning, Han told detectives he felt like he was being taken advantage of and wanted more than $75,000 of his money back.
He said he was involved in a business arrangement with Yoo and Schleigh. Yoo owned the business plaza and Schleigh was the real estate agent "that had convinced Han to purchase the sushi restaurant in the K-Towne shopping center last summer."
"Schleigh and Yoo convinced him to invest in a property in Georgia. Han gave Schleigh $70,000 and Yoo $5,000. As part of that deal, Schleigh agreed to pay Han’s business rent, but that agreement eventually fell through," according to the affidavit. "Han said that he began to ask Schleigh and Yoo to return his $75,000, but they refused. Additionally, Han said that Olivia Kim convinced Yoo to raise his business rent by $2,000."
The court document states that Han showed up for the meeting and confronted the group near the front of the store, telling them he didn’t have their rent, but he did have a pistol.
He collected their cellphones and after a very brief discussion, Han shot Yoo and the Kims. He shot Cho as he began running toward the front exit to escape.
Han then drove to Schleigh’s apartment. He told detectives he knew Schleigh never locked his door, so he walked right in.
"Han said he told Schleigh that he was tired of Schleigh taking his money and he shot Schleigh twice," the affidavit states.
Han said he drove to H-Mart after the shooting to say goodbye to his friends at the fish market and planned to take his own life.
What they're saying:
Korean community leaders are emotional over the violent turn of events.
"For this community, this thing never happens in the Korean community at this level. That’s what is so shocking. It is hard to express the sadness, the shock, the trauma that we all go through," said Young Sung, a former Carrollton City Council member.
Sungchul Woo, the President of the Korean Society of Dallas, drove to the crime scene to see it with his own eyes.
"It's so sad that we heard this tragic event, incident, here in Carrollton," Woo told FOX 4's Amelia Jones.
Woo knew some of the victims.
"They all worked hard, as immigrants, you know," Woo said. "They come here, and they work hard, they work for family, and they take care of each other."
The Source: The information in this story comes from an arrest warrant affidavit, the Carrollton Police Department, and a news conference held by the Korean Association of Dallas.