| For Immediate Release Case # 12ZF0128
January 17, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
SEAL BEACH SALON SHOOTER INDICTED BY GRAND JURY FOR LARGEST MASS MURDER IN ORANGE COUNTY HISTORY
SANTA ANA – A man was indicted today by the Orange County Grand Jury for murdering eight people and attempting to murder a ninth in the largest mass-murder in Orange County history. Scott Evans Dekraai, 42, Huntington Beach, has been indicted on eight felony counts of special circumstances murder for committing multiple murders and one felony count of attempted murder. The Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) is seeking the death penalty in this case. Dekraai is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, at 1:30 p.m. in Department C-5, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
The Seal Beach Police Department (SBPD) investigated this case.
The OCDA released a press release Oct. 14, 2011, with the following information on the Dekraai case:
On the morning of Oct. 12, 2011, Dekraai is accused of getting into a verbal argument on the phone with his ex-wife, 48-year-old Michelle Marie Fournier, over a custody dispute regarding their 8-year-old son.
At approximately 1:20 p.m. on Oct. 12, 2011, Dekraai is accused of entering Salon Meritage, located on the 500 block of Pacific Coast Highway in Seal Beach, where his ex-wife worked as a hair stylist. The defendant is accused of wearing a bullet-proof vest under his clothing and arming himself with three firearms before walking into the salon with the intention of murdering his ex-wife and other people who may have been present. Approximately 15 people were inside at the time.
At 1:21 p.m. Dekraai is accused of walking through the salon and executing employees and customers at random, as well as Fournier, by shooting them at close range in the head and chest. The firearms included a 9 MM Springfield, Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum, and a Heckler & Koch .45.
He is accused of shooting several of the victims multiple times using two of the firearms as they lay dying, stopping to reload when his ammunition ran out. The shooting lasted approximately two minutes.
The other people inside the salon attempted to escape by hiding, locking themselves in private treatment rooms, or running outside. Dekraai is accused of shooting eight people inside the salon.
Six of the eight victims inside the salon were pronounced dead at the scene. The two other victims were transported to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in critical condition. One of those victims died that afternoon at the hospital. The eighth victim remains in critical condition.