Hospital: Woman hurt in Wis. spa shooting improves

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BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) -- One of the four women injured in a fatal shooting in a suburban Milwaukee salon has been released from the hospital, and a second woman has been upgraded from critical to satisfactory condition..

Froedtert Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Sieja said Monday the other two women injured in the shooting at Azana Salon & Spa in Brookfield remain in satisfactory condition.

Three other women died in Sunday's rampage, including 42-year-old Zina Haughton, the estranged wife of suspected gunman Radcliffe F. Haughton. Police say Radcliffe Haughton eventually committed suicide.

Brookfield police say Haughton damaged his wife's car Oct. 4 and she was granted a four-year protection order on Thursday. Haughton had been ordered not to possess any firearms, but authorities say he purchased the gun used in the attack on Saturday.

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BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) -- A Wisconsin woman whose husband is suspected of killing her and two others at the spa where she worked said he threatened to throw acid in her face and jealously terrorized her "every waking moment," according to court documents.

Authorities say Radcliffe Franklin Haughton, 45, killed three women, including his 42-year-old wife, Zina Haughton, and wounded four more before turning the gun on himself on Sunday.

The Waukesha County medical examiner's office on Monday identified the dead as Zina Haughton; Cary L. Robuck, 35, of Racine; and Maelyn M. Lind, 38, of Oconomowoc. It is not clear whether Robuck and Lind worked at the spa or were customers.

In a written request for a restraining order filed Oct. 8, Zina Haughton said her husband was convinced she was cheating on him and that aside from the acid threat he also vowed to burn her and her family with gas. He said he would kill her if she ever left him or called the police, according to the court papers obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

"His threats terrorize my every waking moment," she wrote.

Haughton was arrested earlier this month for slashing his wife's tires; she was granted a four-year restraining order on Thursday.

Under the order, Haughton, of Brown Deer, was prohibited from owning a firearm.

Police responded last year to reports of domestic violence at the Haughton home. Zina Haughton called 911 saying her enraged husband had thrown her clothes and bedding into the yard and doused her vehicle with tomato juice. Radcliffe Haughton was charged with disorderly conduct, but the charge was later dismissed because a witness failed to appear in court.

Brookfield Police Chief Dan Tushaus said he wasn't aware of a motive in Sunday's shooting, but that investigators weren't looking for anyone else.

"I can tell you we're not seeking additional suspects," he said at a news conference Sunday evening. "The community can feel safe."

A .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun was used in the attack, said agent Tom Ahern, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

A spokeswoman at Froedtert Hospital, where the injured were taken, said one of the four women remained in critical condition early Monday. Kathy Sieja said the three other women were in satisfactory condition.

The shootings set off a confusing, six-hour search for the gunman, forcing the lockdown of a nearby mall, a country club and the hospital.

Authorities said it would take time to sort out exactly what happened, and emphasized they were still interviewing witnesses and rescuers and didn't have a firm timeline of events. Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto called the shootings "a senseless act on the part of one person."

The chaos started about 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 Haughton set, Tushaus said.

They also found a 1-pound propane tank they initially thought might be an improvised explosive device, Tushaus said. That slowed the search of the building as law enforcement agents waited for a bomb squad to clear the scene.

Tushaus said later that police didn't know whether the gunman brought the propane tank or a contractor left it.

The search also was complicated by the layout of the building, with numerous small treatment rooms and several locked areas, Tushaus said. While officers initially thought the gunman had fled the building, they later found his body in a locked room, he said.

Haughton's father, Radcliffe Haughton, Sr., spoke to The Associated Press shortly before police announced that they had found his son's body. In telephone interviews from Florida, he said he had last spoken to his son a few days ago, but didn't know anything was wrong. He begged his son to turn himself in.

After learning of his son's death, he said only: "This is very sad."

It was the second mass shooting in Wisconsin this year. Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old Army veteran and white supremacist, killed six people and injured three others before fatally shooting himself Aug. 5 at a Sikh temple south of Milwaukee.

Sunday's shooting took place less than a mile from where seven people were killed and four wounded on March 12, 2005, when a gunman opened fire at a Living Church of God service held at a hotel.
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BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) -- A Wisconsin woman whose husband is suspected in a fatal spa shooting says he threatened to throw acid in her face and burn her with gas.

Authorities say Radcliffe Franklin Haughton shot and killed three women, injured four more then turned the gun on himself Sunday at a suburban Milwaukee spa where his wife worked.

In a court filing, Zina Haughton said her husband thought she was cheating on him, and threatened to kill her if she ever left him or called the police.

She was granted a four-year temporary restraining order this month after her husband was arrested for slashing her tires. She told the court he threatened to burn her and her family with gas.

Meantine, one of the four women injured in a fatal shooting at a day spa in a Milwaukee suburb remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Froedtert Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Sieja said Monday the other three people injured in the shooting at Brookfield spa are in satisfactory condition.

Police say three other women were killed by Radcliffe Haughton, the estranged husband of a woman who worked as a stylist at Azana Salon & Spa. Authorities have not identified the victims and haven't said whether the gunman's wife is among them.

Radcliffe Haughton was later found dead inside the spa.

Brookfield police say Haughton had damaged his wife's car Oct. 4 and she was granted a 4-year protection order on Thursday. Haughton had been ordered not to possess any firearms.

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BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) -- A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent says it is tracing one weapon used in the fatal spa shooting in a Milwaukee suburb.

Agent Tom Ahern tells The Associated Press it's a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun. He says any additional information will have to come from the Brookfield police, who are investigating Sunday's shooting, after the trace is completed and the results provided to them.

Three women were shot and killed and four injured at the Azana Day Spa in Brookfield. Their identities have not been released.

Police say the suspect, 45-year-old Radcliffe Franklin Haughton, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) -- One of the four women injured in a fatal shooting at a day spa in a Milwaukee suburb remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Froedtert Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Sieja said Monday the other three people injured in the shooting at Brookfield spa are in satisfactory condition.

Police say three other women were killed by Radcliffe Haughton, the estranged husband of a woman who worked as a stylist at Azana Salon & Spa. Authorities have not identified the victims and haven't said whether the gunman's wife is among them. Haughton was later found dead inside the spa.

Brookfield police say Haughton had damaged his wife's car Oct. 4 and she was granted a 4-year protection order on Thursday. Haughton had been ordered not to possess any firearms.
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BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) -- Customers of the day spa employee whose estranged husband is accused of killing three women at the suburban Milwaukee business and injuring four others describe the woman as a dedicated mother and caring friend.

Zina Haughton's stylist station at Azana Salon & Spa is decorated with photos of her two daughters. Kristin Guadagno says the girls were the foundation of Haughton's family and she worked hard to provide for them. Friends say the 42-year-old mother saved for a year to take her daughters to Disney World.

Customer Sarah Justin tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Haughton never talked negatively about her husband, who is accused of storming into the spa Sunday and shooting the seven women before taking his own life. Authorities have not yet released the names of the dead and wounded.

WTMJ is reporting that Zina Haughton was shot and killed.

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BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) -- Authorities say all seven of the victims in Sunday's fatal spa shooting in suburban Milwaukee were women.

Brookfield Police Chief Dan Tushaus did not identify the victims by name during a news conference Sunday night.

Three women were shot and killed at the Azana Day Spa in Brookfield, but Tushaus did not provide their ages.

He said four women were taken to the hospital, ages 22, 30, 32 and 40. The hospital said one woman was in critical condition and another was satisfactory. It did not give conditions for the other two but one was expected to have surgery and the other was admitted but did not require surgery.

Police say the suspect, 45-year-old Radcliffe Franklin Haughton, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Haughton's wife worked at the spa. It is not known if she was one of the victims.
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BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) -- 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 middle-to-upper class 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. At a news conference Sunday night, Mayor Steve Ponto called the shootings "a senseless act on the part of one person."

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.

They also found a 1-pound propane tank they initially thought might be an improvised explosive device, Tushhaus said. That slowed the search of the building as law enforcement agents waited for a bomb squad to clear the scene.

Tushaus said later that police didn't know whether the gunman brought the propane tank to the spa or it was left by a contractor.

The search also was complicated by the layout of the building, with numerous small treatment rooms and several locked areas, 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.

Haughton's father, Radcliffe Haughton, Sr., spoke to a television station and The Associated Press shortly before police announced that they had found his son's body. In telephone interviews from Florida, he said he had last spoken to his son a few days ago, but didn't have any indication anything was wrong. He begged his son to turn himself in.

After learning of his son's death, he said only: "This is very sad."

A sea of ambulances and police vehicles collected at the scene shortly after the shooting. A witness, David Gosh of nearby West Allis, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he was returning from duck hunting with his father and a friend when he saw a woman emerge from the spa, screaming, as she ran into traffic.

"She ran right out into the street was pounding on cars," Gosh told the newspaper. Moments later, a man with a handgun ran out. He appeared to be chasing the woman but then went back inside, Gosh said.

At the hospital where the victims were taken, staff members were escorted inside during the temporary lockdown and critically injured patients were accepted with a police escort. Officers were stationed at entrances.

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.

The shooting investigation and manhunt paralyzed a normally bustling shopping district. Inside the mall across the street from the spa, people waited patiently for updates. Gina Kralik, a bartender at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, said people had been allowed to leave at one point but then police had decided not to let anyone come or go from the mall.

"We're just sitting watching the news and also trying to find out what's going on," she said about 3 p.m.

Austin Della, 17, was working at a department store in the mall when he heard announcements over the loudspeaker asking people to move their cars out of one parking lot. The mall was then locked down for almost three hours, he said, and customers joked about the good service they would get as the only clients in the store.

"Everyone was really calm," Della said. "If not for all the announcements, I don't think anyone would have known that anything was happening."

It was the second mass shooting in Wisconsin this year. Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old Army veteran and white supremacist, killed six people and injured three others before fatally shooting himself Aug. 5 at a Sikh temple south of Milwaukee.

The shooting at the mall took place less than a mile from where seven people were killed and four wounded on March 12, 2005, when a gunman opened fire at a Living Church of God service held at a hotel.

Governor Scott Walker released a statement Sunday afternoon about the shooting.

"As we wait for further details from the shooting today in Brookfield, Tonette and I send our thoughts and prayers to the victims. 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."

President Barack Obama has called officials in Wisconsin to express condolences for the victims of Sunday's shootings at a day spa in suburban Milwaukee.

The White House says Obama assured Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Brookfield, Wis., Mayor Steven Ponto that the federal government would provide "whatever resources are necessary" to help with the investigation.

The White House says Obama told the officials that the people of Wisconsin were in the thoughts and prayers of himself and first lady Michelle Obama.