INSIDE EDITION is learning more about the man authorities say went on a shooting rampage and killed eight people at the California salon where his ex-wife was a hairdresser.
Scott Dekraai is the madman police say killed eight people in a hair salon massacre.
The full drama of his arrest minutes after the shootings was caught on cell phone video by an eyewitness.
42-year-old Scott Dekraai was ordered to drop after he was cornered minutes after the rampage. He surrendered without a fight.
"He had a white shirt on. When they yanked him out they pulled up the white shirt and that's when we saw that he had on a bulletproof vest," said witness Tom Windham.
Police say the bloodshed began when Dekraai strode into Salon Meritage, a crowded hair salon in the town of Seal Beach in Orange County, California.
The gunman's primary target is thought to be his ex-wife Michelle Fournier, a hairdresser at the salon.
It was a typical Wednesday at the salon, there are eight stations inside, and all were busy. Police say the gunman walked in the front door, and the first person he confronted was the owner, who he shot and killed before spraying the rest of the salon with bullets. Two patrons ran to safety and hid in a back room. The gunman then allegedly walked up to his ex-wife and shot her three times before returning to the parking lot where he confronted a witness who was parked right next to him. Police say that man was shot and killed through the window of his car.
"The person that was shot, I believe he said, 'Hey, what's going on?' and then the shooter just turned and shot him, broke out the passenger window and shot him a couple of times in the stomach," said witness Jody Teal.
An eyewitness shot disturbing video moments after the shooting of one of the victims being rushed to the hospital. Tragically, he didn't make it.
Teal said, "They took the guy out and he was just covered in blood. It was a terrible sight, horrible sight."
There were scenes of raw frantic emotion outside the salon as members of the tight knit community gathered to grieve, pray, and learn the fate of loved ones.
Among the dead is Randy Fannin, the salon owner.
"He could have run out if he wanted to," observed INSIDE EDITION's Jim Moret.
"He could have run out, his station's right there, next to the door," said Mary Stearns, a friend of Fannin. "He wasn't that type of person."
Dekraai and his ex-wife were engaged in a bitter custody battle over their seven-year-old son Dominic.
The custody dispute was so bitter a judge had ordered the couple to speak only in weekly phone calls restricted to ten minutes.
His ex-wife claimed in court papers he was "Unstable and abusive…almost manic."
An American flag flies outside the gunman's ranch style home, and a children's basketball hoop sits in the driveway.
