Remarks by Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas
Scott Dekraai Charges
October 14, 2011
Thank you for coming. I have with me Acting Seal Beach Police Chief Tim Olson.
October 12, 2011, is a day that should never have been visited upon the peaceful community of Seal Beach, California. The people of our community were made victims of a bloody massacre by a methodical, merciless killer.
In a selfish, cruel act of senseless violence, eight innocent people were murdered. A ninth remains in critical condition. The lives of the victims’ families and friends will be forever changed, with a missing place in their hearts and empty chairs at Thanksgiving dinner.
I have charged Scott Evan Dekraai with eight felony counts of special circumstance first degree murder. The special circumstance is for multiple murders. He is also charged with one felony count of attempted murder. The defendant is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon. We are continuing to investigate this case, but here’s what we believe the evidence will show.
On Wednesday afternoon, at about 1:20 p.m., Dekraai is accused of walking in to the Salon Meritage in Seal Beach, prepared to commit murder. Wearing a bullet proof vest and armed with three firearms, He walked through the salon shooting anyone close enough to hit. He stopped to reload, and then continued gunning people down. He was not satisfied with murdering his intended target, his ex-wife.
For almost two minutes, Dekraai shot victim after victim, executing eight people by shooting them in the head and chest. He was not done. He then walked out of the salon and shot a ninth victim, a male, who was sitting nearby in a parked Range Rover.
The reason for this rampage? Revenge. We believe that the defendant committed this unimaginable act of violence because he wanted to kill his ex-wife over a custody dispute over their 8-year-old son. He was willing to end any life in his path. And he did. Clearly this two-minute murder-spree could not have been about loving his son.
The eight irreplaceable lives? Dekraai callously snuffed them out as if they were merely collateral damage. We will not forget any one of the nine victims. Their lives matter. We will seek justice for each of these lives to the best of our ability.