Three killed, four injured in US spa shooting

A man police suspected of killing three and wounding four by opening fire at a day spa was found dead on Sunday following a six-hour manhunt that locked down a shopping centre, country club and hospital in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Authorities said they believed the shooting was related to a domestic dispute.

The man they identified as the suspect, Radcliffe Franklin Haughton, 45, of Brown Deer, Wisconsin, had a restraining order against him.

Brookfield Police Chief Dan Tushaus said Haughton died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was found in the spa.

Joe Brent, an eye witness on scene, said he saw a victim who was "bleeding in the neck with a paper towel over her neck, and she was very hurt and she had to get escorted by the police officer because she couldn't walk."

The shooting happened about 1100 Central Time (1600 GMT) at the Azana Day Spa, a two-story, 9,000-square-foot (836-square-metre) building across from a major shopping centre in Brookfield, a middle-to-upper class community west of Milwaukee.

Hours later, a bomb squad descended on the building, and Tushaus said an improvised explosive device had been found inside.

It was not clear whether it remained a threat.

Liz Senn, a concerned friend of one of the shooting victims who was at the scene, said "she's pregnant, and I was supposed to be with her at 2:00, so I don't know - I don't know what's happening."

Police released little about Haughton other than a physical description and a photo.

Online court records showed a temporary restraining order was issued against him on 8 October in Milwaukee County Circuit Court because of a domestic abuse complaint.

It was not clear who sought the restraining order, but his father said he was married.

A sea of ambulances and police vehicles collected at the scene shortly after the shooting.

The mall, a country club adjacent to the spa and the hospital where survivors were taken were among the buildings locked down as police searched for Haughton.

At the hospital, staff members were escorted inside and critically injured patients were accepted with a police escort.

Officers were stationed at all main entrances.