Gunman kills 3, self in US salon shooting

2012-10-19 08:55

(Shutterstock)

Casselberry — A gunman opened fire at a Florida beauty salon on Thursday, killing three women and wounding the manager, who had asked for a restraining order against him, police said. After the rampage, the gunman went to a friend's house and killed himself.

Authorities said the shooting was part of a domestic dispute, but did not elaborate. The gunman, identified by police as Bradford Baumet, was served with a domestic violence injunction on 9 October and scheduled to be in court on Thursday for a hearing with the salon's manager, Marcia Santiago. Their relationship was not immediately clear.

About two hours before the hearing, Baumet, aged 36, entered Las Dominicanas M & M Salon in Casselberry and started shooting, police spokesperson Sara Brady said. Two women hid inside a bathroom and one ran outside through a back door.

Santiago, aged 44, was in serious condition at a hospital. She was shot five times, according to her ex-husband, William Ayala, who spoke to her sister. Ayala said he had a daughter with Santiago and the girl lived with him.

"I heard he was violent and had a criminal record," he said.

Records in Florida and Rhode Island show Baumet has been previously arrested for domestic assault, felony assault, stalking, burglary and drug possession.

Mourning

Police identified two other victims as 52-year-old Gladys Cabrera, a customer and 29-year-old Noelia Gonzalez-Brito, a salon employee. Authorities did not immediately identify the fourth woman who died.

Shortly after the shooting, about two dozen mourners gathered near the salon, located in a strip mall. Police taped off the parking lot and officers stood guard outside the business.

Yellow paper covered up some of the glass windows. A Dominican Republic flag hung in the storefront along with a neon sign that read: Hair Cut. Colour. Perm.

Calls to the salon's owner also went unanswered. A video posted on the salon's website shows a woman explaining in Spanish the services offered at the salon for men and women.

Casselberry is about 24km northeast of Orlando.

A witness to the salon shooting told the Orlando Sentinel he heard gunshots before seeing the gunman flee.

Similar incident

"We saw the guy with the gun in his hand ... coming this way ... on foot with the gun in his hand," said Juan Diaz, who was at a nearby store at the time of the shooting. He said he went into the salon once the gunman left and saw "a bunch of dead bodies".

When Baumet went to his friends' house, he did not threaten them, but said "he had some problems, problems he could not remedy", Seminole County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Heather Smith said.

Baumet was jailed in Orange County on 14 October after an arrest for driving on a suspended license. He was released the following day after posting $250 bond and sentenced to time-served.

A phone number listed for Baumet was disconnected.

A year ago in Orange County in Southern California, an angry ex-husband donned a bulletproof vest before killing his ex-wife and six of her fellow stylists and patrons at a hair salon, police said. Scott Dekraai is also accused of killing a man in the parking lot. He is awaiting trial on murder charges.

- AP