Gunman kills three, self at Wisconsin spa

BROOKFIELD, Wis. – 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 community west of Milwaukee, for much of the day. Ultimately, he was found dead in the spa.

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.

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 the suspect, Radcliffe Franklin Haughton, 45, of Brown Deer, Brookfield Police Chief Dan Tushaus said.

While officers initially thought the gunman had fled the building, they later found his body in one of the locked areas, he said.

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.

Haughton had recently been arrested after witnesses identified him as the person who slashed his wife’s tires, police said.

He appeared in court Thursday. A four-year restraining order was issued, and Haughton was ordered to turn any firearms over to the sheriff’s department.

The hospital released a statement saying two women had undergone surgery, and one was in critical condition. Another was expected to have surgery Sunday night.