Police have released the audio of 911 calls that were made by terrified witnesses to the Seal Beach shooting even as the gunman continued to fire on workers and patrons at the salon where the massacre occurred.
"He's still shooting right now…he's still shooting right now," a caller said. "We need somebody here right now."
The call was made just moments after Scott Evans Dekraai,41, allegedly opened fire at the Salon Meritage hair salon, killing eight people and critically wounding a ninth.
On the newly released audio, the 911 dispatcher tried to calm the caller as the gunfire continued.
"You guys need to shut the doors and hide somewhere," the dispatcher said. "Do you know who the shooter is?"
"We think it's one of the hairstylists' husbands," the caller said. "We think we do but I don't know because the girl that came here is just hysterical."
A second woman, who had apparently witnessed the shooting, ran into a nearby business to hide. The dispatcher asked to speak with her.
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"Do you know who the suspect is?" the dispatcher asked.
"He's just trying to shoot everybody in there right now," the caller said.
One of the calls released Monday by the Seal Beach Police Department was made by a woman who hid in the facial room of the Salon Meritage.
In a quiet, muffled voice, she told the 911 dispatcher: “I think a lot of people might have been killed or hurt.”
From an adjacent salon, a caller said her receptionist saw the shooting through their front window. They retreated to the bathroom for safety.
"We don't want to leave the bathroom until the police tell us okay," the caller said.
Another woman called 911 while hiding behind a car in the parking lot.
The sobbing woman told the dispatcher: “A gunman came in and killed a bunch of people. They’re all lying down on the floor.”
"Did you see which way he went?" the dispatcher asked.
"No, I got down and put my hands over my neck like an air raid drill and was just hoping he wasn't going to kill me," the caller said.
Among the dead were Dekraai’s ex-wife, Michelle Marie Fournier, 48, who leaves behind the couple’s 8-year-old son, Dominic.
Prosecutors believe Dekraai, who was reported to have had a history of instability and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, was seeking revenge against Fournier following a bitter custody battle .
"We believe the defendant committed this unimaginable act of violence because he wanted to kill his ex-wife over a custody dispute concerning their 8-year-old son," Orange County District Attorney DA Tony Rackauckas said Friday. "I will seek the penalty of death against Scott Evans Dekraai."
Dekraai, 41, has been held without bail at an Orange County jail since his arrest Wednesday shortly after the shooting.
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