* Lone suspect found dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound
(Suspect found dead at scene; background on shooting; adds
byline)
By Brendan O’Brien
MILWAUKEE, Oct 21 (Reuters) – A man opened fire at a spa in
suburban M ilwaukee, Wisconsin, o n Sunday, killing three people
and wounding four others before taking his own life, police
said.
The suspect was identified as 45-year-old Radcliffe
Haughton, a resident of Brown Deer, Wisconsin, w ho was placed
under a restraining order and directed by a judge to surrender
his weapons to local authorities th is month in con nection with a
do mestic abuse case inv olving his wife.
“We believe this incident was domestic violence-related,”
Brookfield Police Chief Daniel Tushaus said at a news
conference.
All three of those shot to death were female , Tushaus said .
T h eir ages were not immediately p rovided. T h e police chief
declined to say whether Haughton’s wi fe w as among the victims.
Haughton was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted
gunshot wound at the Azana Salon & Spa, Tushaus said.
The shooting marked the second outburst of gun violence at a
U.S. beauty spa in a matter of days. On Thursday, a gunman
opened fire at a salon in suburban Orlando, Florida, killing
three women and wounding another before fleeing and committing
suicide at a nearby residence.
According to Wisconsin court records, a temporary
restraining order related to domestic abuse was issued against
Haughton on Oct. 8 in Milwaukee County. On Oct. 18, an
injunction was granted prohibiting Haughton from possessing a
firearm, and he was ord e red to hand over all firearms to the
sheriff.
Haughton also was cited for misdemeanor disorderly conduct,
described as domestic abuse, stemming from an incident on Jan.
8, 2011. The charge was dismissed on June 15, 2011.
Sunday’s shooting erupted at about 11 a.m. local time,
according to eyewitness accounts.
Joe Brent, a 26-year-old Milwaukee man, said he was leaving
a fast-food restaurant near the salon when he heard a gunshot.
Within about 2 minutes, a policeman entered the restaurant and
told everyone to leave, he said.
He added that as he was getting into his car he saw a woman
who appeared to be in her 20s with a bloodied paper towel on her
neck being rushed from the salon and onto a stretcher. “She was
screaming. She was hurt real badly,” Brent said.
Four victims with gunshot wounds were rushed to Milwaukee’s
Froedtert hospital. Their conditions were not immediately known.
President Barack Obama was informed of the shooting at 1:30
p.m. EDT, according to a statement from the White House. The
statement said that the president and first lady Michelle
Obama’s “thoughts and prayers” were with the victims.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker issued a statement calling
the shooting another example of the “senseless acts of violence”
that occur across the country.
“Our state will stand with the victims and their families,”
he said.
The last few months have been marked by a string of mass
shootings in the United States. On Sept. 27, a disgruntled
former employee killed six people and took his own life in a
shooting rampage at a Minneapolis sign company from which he had
been fired.
In August, two people were killed and nine wounded in a
work-related shooting near the Empire State Building in New York
City. The Manhattan incident followed two separate mass
shootings in a Colorado movie theater and a Sikh temple in
Wisconsin.
Nationally, there were 458 workplace homicides in 2011 and
518 in 2010, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien and Mary Wisniewski; Editing by
Steve Gorman and Stacey Joyce)
