A Wisconsin man who had been accused of
domestic violence and slashing his wife's tires took a gun into the spa where
she worked Sunday and shot seven women, three fatally, before killing himself,
a police chief said.
The shootings set off a confusing, six-hour
search for the gunman that locked down a nearby mall, a country club adjacent
to the spa and the hospital where the survivors were taken. The search froze
activity in a commercial area in Brookfield, a middle-to-upper class community
west of Milwaukee, for much of the day. Ultimately, he was found dead in the
spa.
The man they identified as the suspect,
Radcliffe Franklin Haughton, 45, of Brown Deer, had a restraining order against
him. Haughton grew up in Wheeling and Northbrook, according to his father.
Authorities said it would take time to sort
out exactly what happened, and emphasized they were still interviewing
witnesses and rescuers and did not have a firm timeline of events. At a news
conference Sunday night, Mayor Steve Ponto called the shootings "a
senseless act on the part of one person."
The chaos started around 11 a.m. at the
Azana Day Spa, a two-story, 9,000-square-foot building across from a major shopping
mall. The first officers on the scene found the building filled with smoke from
a fire authorities believe was set by
Haughton, Brookfield Police Chief Dan Tushaus said.
The mall, a country club adjacent to the
spa, a nearby hospital and other buildings were locked down as police searched
for Haughton.
They also found a 1-pound propane tank they
initially thought might be an improvised explosive device, Tushhaus said. That
slowed the search of the building as law enforcement agents waited for a bomb
squad to clear the scene.
Tushaus said later that police didn't know
whether the gunman brought the propane tank to the spa or it was left by a
contractor.
The bodies of the victims were also found
in the spa. Tushaus said investigators were still working to identify them. He
said the four survivors were between the ages of 22 and 40. He didn't know if
they were employees at the spa or customers, and it wasn't clear if the man's
wife was among the victims.
Shortly before authorities said Haughton's
body had been found, his father, Radcliffe Haughton, Sr., told The Associated
Press and a television station in telephone interviews from Florida that he had
last spoken to his son a few days ago, but didn't have any indication anything
was wrong.
He said then that he had a message for his
son: "Please just turn yourself in or contact me."
When reached by the Chicago Tribune,
Haughton Sr. said he had not heard that his son had been found dead.
"I don't know nothing, I'm in
Florida," said Haughton Sr.
Haughton Sr. said his son grew up in
Wheeling and Northbrook and said his son lived in Wisconsin. He said his son's
actions don't represent the family's values.
"It's not the family, the family don't
believe in this," said Haughton Sr.
Tushaus said officers initially focused on
reaching and helping the victims. The victim's names were not released by
authorities, and a hospital treating the victims also was put on lockdown.
Staff members were being escorted into the building, and critically injured
patients were being accepted with a police escort. Officers were stationed at
all main entrances to the facility.
A sea of ambulances and police vehicles
collected at the scene shortly after the shooting. A witness, David Gosh of
nearby West Allis, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel he was returning from
duck hunting with his father and a friend when he saw a woman emerge from the
spa, screaming, as she ran into traffic. The area is near an interstate and a
busy commercial road.
"She ran right out into the street was
pounding on cars," Gosh told the newspaper. He said that moments later, a
man with a handgun ran out, and appeared to be chasing her, then went back
inside.
People inside the mall were patiently
awaiting updates, and for word they could leave. Gina Kralik, a bartender at
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers in the mall, said by telephone that the restaurant
was still locked down as of about 3 p.m. She said 18 people were there -- all
employees except for a couple reporters who managed to get in. She said people
were allowed to leave at one point, but then the police decided not to let
anyone come or go from the mall.
"We're just sitting watching the news
and also trying to find out what's going on," she said.
Police released little about Haughton other
than a physical description and a photo. They said he was wearing a grey
sweater, jeans, and carrying a white and black backpack. They said he was
6-foot-2, and more than 200 pounds.
Online court records showed a temporary
restraining order was issued against Haughton in Milwaukee County Circuit Court
on Oct. 8 because of a domestic abuse complaint. Haughton appeared in court
Thursday, when a no-contact order was issued and he was told to turn all his
weapons over to the sheriff's department.
Authorities said Haughton had slashed his
wife's tires two weeks before Sunday's shooting and that his wife was an
employee at the spa. It is not clear if she was among the victims.
It was the second mass shooting in
Wisconsin this year. Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old Army veteran and white
supremacist, killed six people and injured three others before fatally shooting
himself Aug. 5 at a Sikh temple south of Milwaukee.
The shooting at the mall took place less
than a mile from where seven people were killed and four wounded on March 12,
2005, when a gunman opened fire at a Living Church of God service held at a
hotel.
