The Milwaukee area became the site of yet another mass shooting on Sunday when an ex-Marine stormed into a local beauty salon, murdering three people and wounding four others before turning the gun on himself.
Radcliffe F. Haughton, 45, turned the Azana Salon & Spa across from the Brookfield Square Mall into a killing ground, killing three women as he marched through the salon with the intention of killing his estranged wife who was employed there.
Roughly a dozen people were in the salon at the time of the 11 a.m. shooting. Police would not say whether Haughton’s wife, Zina, was among the dead, although she was clearly his target.
It was just two weeks ago that Zina Haughton got a temporary restraining order placed on Haughton after he showed up at the salon and slashed the tires on her car.
The killings occurred only a half-mile from the 2005 murders of seven people by a gunman who opened fire at a church service, and 11 weeks after a mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek left six dead, plus the killer.
The former crime was the work of a religiously devout church member who came mentally unhinged. The latter apparently was motivated by ethnic hatred. This one seems to have been personal.
Haughton had sent signals recently of possible trouble.
About the time the restraining order was issued, he posted on his Facebook page: “Need to get out of Wisconsin, HELP . . . ”
Not long afterward, his father warned him not to “do anything stupid.”
And a Google Plus page linked to Haughton includes a bizarre photograph of a man who appears to be him, pointing what looks to be a weapon at the camera.
Haughton had accumulated a misdemeanor criminal record while growing up in suburban Chicago, twice convicted in the 1990s of marijuana possession and once this year of disorderly conduct, the Chicago Tribune reported.
In Milwaukee County, he was charged last year with disorderly conduct, but the case was dismissed after a key witness didn’t show for the trial, online records show.
The four wounded women – ages 22, 30, 32 and 40 – were taken to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, but all are expected to survive, hospital officials said Sunday evening. The women were not identified.
One of the four was undergoing surgery early Sunday night and was in critical condition. A second had already undergone surgery and was in satisfactory condition. A third was stabilized and scheduled for surgery later Sunday night. A fourth did not require surgery but was admitted, hospital officials said.
Details of the injuries, including the number of times victims were shot, were not provided. Gary Seabrook, director of surgical services, said four patients were brought to the hospital “with multiple gunshot wounds to their extremities.”
Owner Tami Gemmell issued a statement thanking those who had reached out.
“We are devastated by this tragedy and remain in shock over how this could have happened,” she said. “Please know that our first concern is for the victims and their families, and for our Azana family . . . “
