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2011 Seal Beach shooting

SOLVED2007Salon Meritage, 500 Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach, California3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026

Documents violence · domestic violence — written to inform, not to shock.

Illustrative

On the afternoon of Wednesday, October 12, 2011, at approximately 1:21 p.m. PDT, police responded to reports of shots fired at the Salon Meritage hair salon at 500 Pacific Coast Highway in Seal Beach, California. About twenty people were inside the salon at the time. The shooter, armed with three handguns — a 9mm Springfield, a .45-caliber Heckler & Koch, and a .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 29 — fired repeatedly over the course of roughly two minutes, reloading at least once. Six people were declared dead at the scene, and three additional survivors were taken to a hospital, where two later died of their wounds. A ninth victim was shot in the parking lot while sitting in his vehicle. Only one person shot survived.

The victims were identified as Victoria Buzzo, 54; David Caouette, 64; Randy Lee Fannin, 62 (owner of the salon); Michele Daschbach Fast, 47; Michelle Marie Fournier, 48; Lucia Bernice Kondas, 65; Laura Webb, 46; and Christy Lynn Wilson, 47. Hattie Stretz, 73, was critically injured but survived. Fournier, a stylist at the salon, was the shooter's former wife; the two had divorced in 2007 after four years of marriage and were engaged in a custody dispute over their son. A court hearing recommending a near-equal custody arrangement had taken place the day before the shooting.

The suspect, identified by police as 41-year-old Scott Evans Dekraai of Huntington Beach, California, was arrested without incident approximately half a mile from the scene while driving a white pickup truck; he was wearing body armor at the time of his arrest. In an affidavit submitted to police, Dekraai said he first shot Fournier multiple times upon entering the salon, contradicting eyewitness accounts that salon owner Randy Fannin was the first person shot. Dekraai said he had argued with Fournier by phone that morning and that he believed David Caouette, an apparently random victim in the parking lot, was an off-duty or undercover police officer.

On October 14, 2011, then–Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced that Dekraai would be charged with eight counts of murder with special circumstances and one count of attempted murder, and that his office would seek the death penalty. Dekraai was arraigned on November 29, 2011, and pleaded not guilty. After multiple delays, he pleaded guilty to the shooting on May 2, 2014. In March 2015, Judge Thomas Goethals removed the Orange County District Attorney's Office from the case, ruling it had improperly withheld evidence from the defense, and assigned the California Attorney General's office to take over prosecution. In August 2017, Goethals ruled Dekraai ineligible for the death penalty due to prosecutorial misconduct in the case. On September 22, 2017, Dekraai was sentenced to eight terms of life imprisonment without parole and one term of seven years to life for attempted murder.

A candlelight vigil was held the evening after the shooting, and a victims' fund raised approximately $400,000. The salon reopened under the same name in November 2012, and a memorial to the victims was built in Eisenhower Park in Seal Beach in 2015.

Key facts

Victims
Michelle Marie Fournier, Randy Lee Fannin, Laura Webb, Michele Daschbach Fast, Hattie Stretz, Christy Lynn Wilson, David Caouette, Victoria Buzzo, Lucia Bernice Kondas
Date
2007
Location
Salon Meritage, 500 Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach, California
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 2007

    Scott Evans Dekraai and Michelle Fournier divorce after four years of marriage; a custody dispute over their son follows.

  2. 2011-10-11

    A court hearing recommends a near-equal custody arrangement for Dekraai and Fournier's son.

  3. 2011-10-12

    Dekraai opens fire at the Salon Meritage hair salon in Seal Beach, killing eight people and wounding one; he is arrested shortly after near the scene.

  4. 2011-10-13

    A candlelight vigil is held for the victims.

  5. 2011-10-14

    Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announces Dekraai will face eight counts of murder with special circumstances and one count of attempted murder, and that the death penalty will be sought.

  6. 2011-11-29

    Dekraai is arraigned and pleads not guilty.

  7. 2012-11-18

    A remodeled Salon Meritage reopens under the same name.

  8. 2014-05-02

    Dekraai pleads guilty to the shooting.

  9. 2015-03

    Judge Thomas Goethals removes the Orange County District Attorney's Office from the case for withholding evidence; the California Attorney General's office takes over prosecution.

  10. 2015

    A memorial to the victims is built in Eisenhower Park in Seal Beach.

  11. 2017-08

    Judge Goethals rules Dekraai ineligible for the death penalty due to prosecutorial misconduct.

  12. 2017-09-22

    Dekraai is sentenced to eight terms of life imprisonment without parole and one term of seven years to life for attempted murder.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Michelle Marie Fournier

    VICTIM

    Salon employee and Dekraai's former wife; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Randy Lee Fannin

    VICTIM

    Owner of Salon Meritage; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Laura Webb

    VICTIM

    Salon employee; killed while styling her mother's hair.

    citation on file

  • Michele Daschbach Fast

    VICTIM

    Customer at the salon; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Hattie Stretz

    VICTIM

    Customer critically injured in the shooting; survived.

    citation on file

  • Christy Lynn Wilson

    VICTIM

    Salon employee; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Scott Evans Dekraai

    CONVICTED

    Pleaded guilty on May 2, 2014, to the shooting; sentenced September 22, 2017, to eight terms of life imprisonment without parole and one term of seven years to life for attempted murder.

    citation on file

  • David Caouette

    VICTIM

    Killed while seated in his vehicle in the parking lot outside the salon.

    citation on file

  • Victoria Buzzo

    VICTIM

    Salon employee; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Lucia Bernice Kondas

    VICTIM

    Customer at the salon; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

Places

Salon Meritage, 500 Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach, California

33.7455, -118.1060

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
On October 12, 2011, Scott Evans Dekraai shot and killed eight people and wounded one other at the Salon Meritage hair salon in Seal Beach, California, in what became the deadliest mass killing in Orange County history. Dekraai pleaded guilty in 2014 and was sentenced in 2017 to life imprisonment without parole.
Where did the shooting happen?
Salon Meritage, 500 Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach, California.
Who was convicted?
Scott Evans Dekraai (Pleaded guilty on May 2, 2014, to the shooting; sentenced September 22, 2017, to eight terms of life imprisonment without parole and one term of seven years to life for attempted murder.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.

Sources

  1. 2011 Seal Beach shootingwikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. Contemporaneous coverage — Los Angeles Timesnews · Los Angeles Times · 2026-07-07
  3. Contemporaneous coverage — BBC Newsnews · BBC News · 2026-07-07
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