Suspected gunman in Wisconsin shooting found dead

GlobalPost

The man suspected of shooting dead three people and injuring four others at a spa in Wisconsin on Sunday has been found dead, the Associated Press reported, citing a county dispatcher.

"I can tell you we're not seeking additional suspects," local Police Chief Dan Tushaus told reporters late Sunday. "The community can feel safe." The bodies of the victims have not yet been identified, and two of the surviving victims underwent critical surgery late Sunday, said AP

Police identified the suspect as Radcliffe Franklin Haughton and said the 45-year-old had been saddled with a four-year restraining order on October 4 after he allegedly slashed the tires of his wife's car, reported AP

The man is believed responsible for shooting seven people, three of them fatally, at the Azana Salon & Spa in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

According to CNN, employees told police that the shooter entered the spa with a handgun and "opened fire when asked if he was going to rob the store." He is also believed to have set fire to part of the building, said AP

A witness told the Journal that he saw a barefoot woman running through the car park "screaming, yelling, crying."

"She was pleading for help," said Christopher Pfeiffer, 47. "She kept saying, 'My mother was shot.'"

Tactical teams were at the scene along with fire ambulance and police vehicles while authorities launched a frantic six-hour search for the killer, according to AP. They later found Haughton dead in spa, having killed himself. 

The father of a 13-year-old daughter, Haughton was not believed to have had steady work recently, according to the Journal.

Haughton's father, Radcliffe Haughton, Sr., told the Journal he had receieved a call from his son recently in which he said he needed to leave the state. "'Whatever you do, don't do anything stupid,'" his father said he told him.

His son, who went into the Marines right after high school and later worked at car dealerships, had also told him about troubles with his wife -- conflicts the Journal said were well-known to the neighborhood. Daniel Montenero, a neighbor whose son knows Haughton's wife's older daughter from a former relationship, quoted his son as saying "'it is real messed up over there,'" with bullet holes reportedly on the walls of the Brown Deer home. 

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker released a statement Sunday saying he and his wife "send our thoughts and prayers to the victims," reported CNN. 

"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."

According to the AP and local media, the shooting happened less than a mile from the Sheraton Hotel where seven people were killed and four wounded in 2005 when a man opened fire at a Living Church of God service held at the hotel. 

More from GlobalPost: 2012 Summer Shootings: Empire State Building violence the latest in a series of attacks

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