13 Oct 2011
Posted by Miss Kissy 
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A child custody battle gets out of control.
SEAL BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Every hair-dressing station was full at Salon Meritage and business was booming when a gunman burst through the door and began shooting, sending terrified customers diving for cover in the upscale salon tucked just blocks from the beach in this quaint seaside town. The shooter then stepped outside, shot a man sitting in a truck in the parking lot and sped off.
By the time it was all over Wednesday, eight people were dead and another in critical condition in one of the deadliest shooting rampages in Orange County and the most violent crime in memory in Seal Beach, a town so calm the police spokesman couldn’t even recall when the last homicide occurred when asked.
“There was like a ‘pop pop’ … and my receptionist screamed out, ‘He just shot that man’ and we all went into the bathroom and called 911,” said Kimberly Criswell, who owns a salon two doors away and knew many hairstylists at Salon Meritage. “I’m sure I’ve lost some friends today.”
Police arrested 42-year-old Scott Dekraai about a half-mile from the scene but did not release a motive or any other details.
In all, one man and five women died at the salon, one man and one woman died after being transported to a nearby hospital, and one woman remained in critical condition. Their names have not been released.
Friends of the salon owner and other employees said Dekraai was the ex-husband of a stylist who worked there. One of the licensed cosmetologists at the salon was listed as Michelle Dekraai. Bowleswould only say, “There may be something to the motive as to a relationship with somebody in the salon, that is our assumption.” He declined to elaborate later.
Glenn Zachman, who owns a video news-gathering service, said he arrived at the scene of the arrest shortly after police and saw they had placed plastic bags over the man’s hands to preserve possible gunshot residue. He also saw a bulletproof vest on the back of a patrol car but didn’t know if the man, dressed in a button-down shirt and pants, had been wearing it.
The man, in handcuffs, was placed in a patrol car and taken away about two-and-a-half hours after the shooting. A new white pickup truck that was believed to be his was parked on the modest residential street with its doors open.
The man was cooperative when officers, working from a description of the shooter, stopped him near the salon, Bowles said.
Shortly after he was arrested, police arrived at a house on Melody Lane in nearby Huntington Beachand escorted two women to a white car and then roped off the house with crime scene tape. The house is registered to Scott Dekraai.
Kari Salveson of Los Alamitos, who attended a service for the victims at SeaCoast Grace Church in Seal Beach, said she had known Michelle Dekraai for more than 10 years and was aware that she and her ex-husband were involved in a bitter custody dispute over their son.
She said Michelle Dekraai made her every visit to the salon special.
“She could gab away. She was one of those girlfriends you could never get enough of. She made you smile and she made you laugh,” Salveson said.
In Huntington Beach, people were shocked to learn that one of the friendliest men in the neighborhood had been arrested for the shootings.
Dekraai’s neighbors described him as an outgoing man who invited them over for pool parties at the house he’d lived in for about six years. They said he doted on his son, playing catch with the boy in his yard.
Neighbors said they were aware Dekraai was in a custody battle with his ex-wife over their son, who neighbors said is 7 or 8 years old.
“It was a very difficult battle and he was trying to get more time” with his son, said Jo Cornhall, who lives across the street from Dekraai.
Next-door neighbor Stephanie Malchow, 29, last saw Dekraai on Tuesday morning as she was leaving for work. She was shocked when she saw the photo of the stocky man with thinning hair being detained by Seal Beach police.
“I’m like, no, not this neighbor, no way, he’s the nicest guy ever,” Malchow said.
Dekraai married his current wife two or three years ago in his backyard, said Malchow, who attended the wedding.
“He seemed very happy, he was just so happy he found someone new who loved his son,” she said.
Dekraai walked with a limp after a tug boat accident that killed a fellow tug boat operator about two miles off the coast in 2007. Cornhall said he uses a brace for his leg.
Police responding to the shooting found six people dead inside the salon, an upscale business with a tannish-yellow awnings and latticework on the window panes. Two other victims died within hours at the hospital, Bowles said.
Victims were scattered throughout the salon, Bowles said, and the ninth victim was found outside.
Lydia Sosa, a hairstylist who left two years ago to work at a new business with her friend, said the gunman’s ex-wife was a stylist at Salon Meritage and spoke often of her relationship problems.
“They had been having bitter problems for years and I guess he just went in there and started shooting,” said Sosa, who remained close with the salon’s owner, Randy Fannin, after her departure. So did Sosa’s business partner, Tammy Hetzel, who said the couple’s problems were well-known among employees.
Cindy Spinosa, 51, who works at a nearby business, said she heard a siren around the time of the shooting.
“After that one of my co-workers got a phone call from her nephew,” Spinosa said. “He was outdoors when the suspect got into his truck and took off.”
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If your ex says “B!tch, I am going to kill you if you don’t start letting me see my son more”, are you going to file a protection order like she did or let the man see his child? People really need to stop using their kids as weapons against the other parent. It makes one deeply upet, angry and obviously some it makes them feel like you are better off dead… No reason to deny your kids time with their other parent unless abuse of the child is involved. which often times it is not. (That does not include this guy though, obviously he has some mental issues)
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Like if your ex says “Bitch, I am going to kill you if you don’t start letting me see my son more”, are you going to file a protection order like she did or let the man see his child?
You female better stop denying these fathers the right to their kids . They going crazy on or ass!
dangum dude obviously have some of kind of problem – that is just jacked up for him to go on a shooting murderous spree. He was insane but sadly his son lost his mom and is about to lose his dad to prison or to the death penalty.
That motherfucker is crazy and stupid at the same time! Lock his ass up!
Well now he realy wont c him…thats not the reason he shot those people…he obviously has some serious issues.
Psycho
I KNOW ALREADY HE WAS A WHITE MAN CUS A BLACK MAN DONT HAVE 2 B PLANNING N PLOTTING – U C HE WORE A ARMORED VEST
I fail to understand the reason behind *liking* of this status. Does it mean you like what happened or what! Well, we view things and interprete them differently…
the rest of them ppl aint had nothing to do with that……I think they should just put him to death ASAP….
look, I don’t agree with him killing anyone, but a lot of women use their children as shields meaning for whatever reason besides understandable reasons such as him abusing neglecting his kids should be enough reason for her to get an protection order! I don’t know the story behind him doing this but his emotions about this didn’t just build up over night! Women say I just want him to spend time with his kids especially if he don’t have any money in the first place, but when it comes down to it some women play the game! Acting as if they can switch who their child(ren) father is.
dont have time
sick! disgusted!
I wish my kids father wanted to spend more time with them :/. This man is stupid because now he will never see his son again. He should have hired a lawyer!
That’s a hard call. If he can make a threat like that, then what is he gonna do with our kid? It’s a hard answer to make. Until you are in a situation like this, you can’t really say. So many things play a factor. On the flip side, FOR ALL OF YOU USING YOUR CHILDREN AS PAWNS OR BEING SELFISH, think of your children. They did not ask to be here nor did they choose their parents. When you are faced with divorce or break up, think of the children first. Your feelings are not their feelings. Allow them time with the non custodial parent if the situation is one that warrants that. Get out of your own way. You are wasting time trying to be mean to someone you are not with. They are out of your life but your child does not have to suffer for it.
dats disgusting….d man gat som problem..how can u kill 8pple just 4 1son…argh….kissy wots ur thought on dat.
This horrible. The state of mind he was in. how did if come to this… My his fallen victems rest in peace and God Bless their familes.
Just goes to show his level of maturity & so evil uggh. Smh
Clap my hands bravo yay go homie except for the other 7 unless they had a hand in it to
Here is how you know it was more to just not seeing the child.. He killed a whole bunch of innocent people. If it was truly about the child he would have dealt with the mother of the child…. however, now he has only damaged this child way more by killing his mother and now being locked up for life… So again was it about the child or something more. Sounds like he needed to get help for something.
I don’t know. I do know that we need to be real careful with how we do child custody and etc. Not everyone is sane. I would never keep my son away from his father.
I liked it because my job requires me to travel and this site keeps me informed on what’s going on! It’s sad that he did what he did! It’s an underlying issue at hand!
What he did was off but I understand. You never know a mans anger until you push his button. I’ve seen people killed for less. The neighbors said he was an honorable man that loved his son. She should have complied. Now you got the protective order because he threatened you about seeing his son, now he can’t see his son. The man lost it. Not saying it’s right but I definitely understand. If he was always a good father and all of a sudden she decides to halt that because of her selfishness, well this is the result!
Dummy!!! Now u’ll never be able 2 c ur son!!! U Gotta be a stupid mothafucka!!! (Chris Tucker voice)
Truly sad may his wife and the 7 others RIP….
it seems like people are craze over there.
well, lets see how much time he spends with him now.
kill his azz
Unstable man and Orange county yal thugged out
A lot of people don’t think when they’re angry. Different levels of reaction. This happens to be a devastating reaction because he blamed his ex-wife, who ever worked with her, and anybody in close proximity of the salon. This also should be a lesson to women who gossip and get involved with their girls business. Your best bet is to distance yourself when it comes to custody battles because this isn’t the first time or the last time it will happen. See y’all think it’s cool to talk ish about your girls ex-boo, getting all in their business, and telling the kids unneeded crap. Then it gets back to the dad and now you’re involved forreal because when he comes after your girl, he also is coming for you. A lot of women need to learn to mind their business, you’ll live longer!
They always want you to believe it was about not seeing the child, it was about not seeing the mother like he wanted to… SAD!!!!
I think be should have killed himself. If my ex had threatened to kill me, I wouldn’t allow my kids see him at all. Fuq his feelings. As a mom my first job is to protect them, even from their dad if necessary. I would have my pistol on me at all times and on alert to blast his ass on sight. We may never know why he did’t receive for visitation time, but clearly he is not aa loving as his neighbors claim. His son’s well-being was never considered, otherwise he would have not done what he did. Emotionally disturbed is an understatement, dude lost all of his good sense.
Contrary to popular belief, many mothers forbid the fathers from seeing the kids because he was abusive or mentally ill, thus a danger to them. Dude didn’t snap overnight, so his ex may have known he was mentally ill or was just waiting on the legl process to run its course. No matter what, many ppl were harmed in this bs, and the son will suffer the most.
Its rediculous that he Killed folks.
His child should not have been around him…he is crazy….He will never see his child again.
He will be executed…Kissy you sadly have some racist people commenting I hope you will let them know that there is but 1
race the Human one….
Melanin doesnt determine how a person does anything.
Now he gets no time with his son..
Well.. i’m sure the feelings of not seeing his son didn’t magically build up that morning he decided to cruise thru the parking lot shooting anything that moves. I dont feel bad for the ex wife, b/c she could have asked for joint custody or supervised visits.. selfish. Their neighbor made her sound like she was playing games with him. I don’t feel bad for the guy, because violence is never the answer to problems. Should have hired a lawyer and made her suffer for a while, and seek psychiatric help. Now he won’t see his son at all for sure. I do feel bad for the son though. He didn’t have any say at all in the custody battle obviously.
Exactly Bryant!
The article stated how good of a father he was to his son, it mentions nothing of abuse so lets kill that theory. If he was so abusive and she knew it or that he was capable of doing this she would have left town.
Well Let Me Be The First To Say I “ATE” My Words Yesterday… When I First Heard The Breaking News Killing In A Salon… I Just Knew This Was A Black Man…
Ok is it me, maybe this PROVES her point of him being violent or abusive. Not only did he kill his ex wife but 7 other people that had nothing to do with it. I mean we really can’t rationalize this man’s behavior by saying she should have let him see his son. There are cases where a parent harms or kills the child to get back at the parent. There is absolutely NO justification to shoot & kill unarmed people that are getting their hair done, simply because you don’t agree with a court ruling. If you love your child you would do NOTHING to hurt them, killing their mother and going to prison for life just devastated his sons life….if that’s a GOOD father we are f*cking lost as a society.
I don’t think he will be spending any time with his son now…idiot!! WTF is wrong with people like these that make them actually think they have the damn right to take someone else’s life becuz of what they WANT!!
How sad. He just a decision that will scar his son for the rest of his life.
That’s so sad.
The man must of have serious issues. How do you rationalize killing 8 people so that you can see your son.
He was very Disconnected from his Humanism and the Universe when he did that. He should have smoked some DMT first, or at least puffed a joint to calm down beforehand. Humans who do that awful stuff are just Disconnected. Humans arent meant to do that shit to each other….
HE SHUDDA GOT SUM KUSH BLEW THEN REGROUPED NOT COOL
WOMEN ALWAYS START WAR.
I would have to know more about this to speak intelligently about this but killing those ppl was extreme. I have a question about whether the mother was denying him access to see the child. I believe there was a lot more to this.
I would have to know more about this to speak intelligently about this but killing those ppl was extreme. I have a question about whether the mother was denying him access to see the child. I believe there was a lot more to this.
I feel sorry for the son more than anything, he now has no mother, basically won’t be seeing his father, and will grow up with this horrible memory that can prolly turn into issues in the future. I’m sure the boy loved both his parents too. Dang, so sad for his childhood to turn into this.
That man has mental issues. If he cared about his son and truly wanted to see him he would have gone to court and not shot his ex along with several other people. Now he will probably never see his son behind bars or dead. What an idiot psycho!
lord it aint right but ….hmmm
This man is crazy!
I Understand His Pain But There’s A Better Way Than This. Now You’ll Never Get That Opportunity.
“If he cared about his son and truly wanted to see him he would have gone to court…”
Count on a woman to believe in and cheer-lead for the system.
sad, pressure bust pipes
That’s why you have to be selective on who you decide to have children with. I’m sure that wasn’t his 1st time displaying his craziness.
BLAME THE COURT SYSTEM WHO DEVALUES MEN’S RIGHT IN DIVORCES SO SOME PEOPLE SNAP AND THESE RESULTS ARE NO SURPRISE..DIVORCE COURT OVERHAUL DESPERATLY NEEDED..