Posted on 10/21/2012 3:25:36 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
A COUNTY dispatcher in Wisconsin says the suspect in a mass shooting at a spa outside Milwaukee has been found dead.
Christine Bannister is a dispatch supervisor for the Waukesha County communications centre. She says 45-year-old Radcliffe Franklin Haughton, of Brown Deer, has been found dead. She could not provide more details.
Police say three people were killed and four wounded in the shooting at the Azana Day Spa. Authorities spent much of the afternoon looking for the gunman.
They say they believe the shooting was related to a domestic dispute.
The man left behind what appears to be an improvised explosive device, which has prevented police from searching the entire two-story building in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee, police chief Daniel Tushaus told reporters.
"Our entire operation is focused on locating the suspect," Chief Tushaus said, describing the situation as "fluid".
"We are currently still searching a portion of the salon."
Chief Tushaus provided few details on the motives of Mr Haughton, but local media reported that he was in the midst of an ugly divorce from his wife, who worked at the Azana spa.
The woman had gotten a judge to issue an order of protection banning Mr Haughton from contacting her and ordering him to hand in his guns, TMJ4 News reported.
The station said police had surrounded his home in the nearby suburb of Brown Deer.
The four other victims are not believed to be critically hurt. However, one woman who was shot in the neck might be about six months pregnant, the station reported.
Television footage showed more than a dozen emergency vehicles in the parking lot of a shopping mall across the street from the spa, at least part of which has been evacuated. Tactical police teams were also on the scene.
The hospital treating the victims was on lockdown until the shooter was caught, a spokeswoman said.
The White House said President Barack Obama had been briefed about the incident, adding: "The President and First Lady's thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this horrible shooting and their families."
"As we wait for further details from the shooting today in Brookfield, Tonette and I send our thoughts and prayers to the victims," Wisconsin governor Scott Walker said in a statement.
"Senseless acts of violence leave us with heavy hearts and many questions. Our state will stand with the victims and their families, and we will provide them with the law enforcement and community support they need to heal in the coming days."
Witness Christopher Pfeiffer said he was on his way to a bookstore in the mall when he saw a young, barefoot woman running in the parking lot.
"She was screaming, yelling, crying hysterical. She was pleading for help," Mr Pfeiffer, 47, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"She kept saying, 'My mother was shot.' And she mentioned that there was a gunman. She ran into the bookstore and I followed her. But I watched her from afar."
David Gosh said he was on his way home from duck hunting when he saw a woman run out into the road screaming and pounding on cars for help.
Then he saw a large man with a handgun chase after her, but luckily the police arrived with sirens blaring. Mr Gosh said he saw the man run back into the building or possibly into the woods nearby.
"He was looking for an escape route," Mr Gosh told the paper.
Mr Gosh's father, John, said he saw two wounded women taken out of the spa. One appeared to have been shot in the leg and the other in the back, he told the newspaper.
The Journal Sentinel published a photo on its website of two barefoot women in white spa robes standing in the spa's parking lot near a fire truck and ambulance. Two women standing nearby were clutching their heads and waving their hands as they spoke together.
Just down the road, less than 1.6km away, is the Sheraton Hotel where seven people were killed and four more wounded at a shooting in 2005. The shooter, who opened fire on a Living Church of God service held at the hotel, then committed suicide.
And a collective sigh of, “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...” goes up from Liberals everywhere, who can’t understand why people who commit murders should be put to death.
At least this guy won’t be supported by the state for another three decades or more.
Mr. Houton, I don’t envy your next moments of awareness in the hereafter.
Why can’t these assholes off themselves before they go on a killing spree?
I think I may have met someone named Radcliffe at a ‘Tea Party’ gathering, but I am not sure if it was their first name or their last or their dog’s name? Hmmm... how many FReepers think I should call the the ‘Lamestream’ media’s tip lines?
Obama is saddened.
Totally! I was just going to post...
Message to all would-be shooters: Kill yourself first!
The perp had a wife and two daughters at the Salon. Presumably he was chasing one of the daughters after shooting his wife.
Frankly, good news if he is dead. The whole story has been coming out in a confused way, which is understandable in the circumstances. One story is that he was found dead in the Spa, which I suppose is possible.
Yes. It has been confirmed. He was found dead at the spa. Were both daughters at the spa with their mom? I hadn’t heard that.
The 3 dead have not been identified yet.
Radcliffe Franklin Haughton.... the third? Right? C’mon. With a name like that, you HAVE to be the third. That’s a Thurston Howellesque moniker if ever there was one.
Something is wrong with his middle name. It should be "Wayne."
Why would OBama be sad?
The guy will be voting for years to come.
Obama is saddened.
didn’t seem that saddened with the death of four americans in bengazi.
It’s harder to make the case that you have to disarm law-abiding American citizens to prevent “senseless gun violence” in Benghazi.
They weren’t black!
One year ago since a similar event:
http://newportbeach.patch.com/articles/around-oc-6-dead-in-salon-shooting
absolutely right
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