SEAL BEACH, Calif., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Police in a Southern California beach city said a gunman killed eight people and wounded a ninth Wednesday in a shooting spree at a hair salon.
Police in Seal Beach said the surviving victim was in critical condition at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reported. The incident took place in the Orange County community at a salon along busy Pacific Coast Highway.
Police told The Orange County Register the suspected gunman was arrested in his car a short distance from the scene.
Witnesses told KNX-AM, Los Angeles, the suspect was apparently the ex-husband of one of the victims. He was described as acting erratically in the moments before the gunfire and may have been wearing body armor.
Another witness said she saw the man enter Salon Meritage and gun down one woman before shooting up the rest of the business, and then fleeing.
The Times quoted a witness as saying the couple had been involved in a child custody dispute.
Tami Scarcella, the niece of salon owner Randy Fannin, told the Times Fannin was among those who were killed.
A salon customer who identified herself only as Cindy said when the shooting started, she though the sound might have been firecrackers.
"But he just didn't stop," she said. "Anybody he saw he was shooting."
