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Seal Beach is city that is home to about 24,000 residents. The vast majority of the ground within the Seal Beach city limits is Naval Weapons Station Seals Beach, a military base.
A large portion of the people who call Seal Beach home are attached to the military base in one way or another. The residents of Seal Beach have access to well-regarded schools and a broad selection of recreational, entertainment, cultural, and other opportunities.
Generally speaking, Seal Beach has reasonably low crime rate. Nonetheless, Seal Beach garnered unwanted notoriety as being the city in which the largest mass shooting in Orange County history occurred, an event that still scars the community.
Seal Beach Mass Shooting
The October day of what would forever be known as the Seal Beach mass shooting started quite like any other for the residents of the city, including the employees and patrons of Salon Meritage. Salon Meritage was a hair salon, a popular business in Seal Beach.
At about 1:30 in the afternoon, the Seal Beach Police Department received a 911 call that shooting was in progress at Salon Meritage. In fact, a man named Scott Evans Dekraai has opened fire inside the salon. The man’s ex-wife worked at Salon Meritage and he was involved in a heated child custody dispute with her.
The shooter was armed with three handguns. He is said to have reloaded once during the attack. The assault on the patrons of the salon lasted about two minutes.
Some of the patrons and staff members were able to flee from the salon. In the end, eight people died as a result of the attack. One other person was injured but did survive. The shooter’s ex-wife was among those killed.
The shooter was charged with eight counts of first degree murder. The prosecutor sought the death penalty in the case.
Ultimately, the death penalty was taken off the table pursuant to a ruling by the court. The court determined that the prosecutor had committed prosecutorial misconduct in the case, which rendered the defendant ineligible for the death penalty. The shooter was sentenced to eight life sentences without parole and an additional sentence of seven years to life for attempted murder.
The Aftermath of the Seal Beach Mass Shooting
Once the police and the Orange County Coroner completed their respective investigations at the scene of the mass shooting, the property was turned over to the owners of the salon. The surviving employees and patrons of Salon Meritage were faced with tremendous emotional challenges following the mass shooting at the establishment. Family members of the deceased individuals found themselves dealing with overwhelming grief. Indeed, the entire community of Seal Beach faced a challenging process of coming to terms with the violent event that forever changed life in the community.
The owners of the salon confronted the added burden of cleaning up following the mass shooting in the business. When this type of incident occurs in a home or business, the responsibility for the biohazard cleanup in Seal Beach rests with the owners in most instances. The stark reality is that the owners of a business or the owners of a home can have extremely close connections to the deceased individuals.
Due to the emotional connection, business and home owners should seriously consider retaining the services of a skilled, experienced biohazard cleanup specialist in the aftermath of a violent event. Here is no need for people in this virtually untenable position to further escalate the overwhelming emotions they face by taking on the biohazard cleanup process in Seal Beach on their own.
In addition to the emotional elements associated with a biohazard cleanup, this type of remediation exposes those involved in the cleanup to potential risks. Blood and bodily fluids can contain significantly dangerous pathogens that can cause serious and even fatal diseases. These can include HIV, MRSA, and different types of hepatitis. Safety issues underscore the importance is retaining the services of a compassionate, committed biohazard cleanup in Seal Beach specialist.
Seal Beach Therapists: Individual Grief Therapy and Group Grief Therapy
Any time a person dies violently or unexpectedly, surviving loved ones can face a challenging bereavement process. In the case of an incident like the Seal Beach mass shooting, people throughout the community understandably can face emotional issues.
In many instances, an individual may benefit from the assistance that can be provided by Seal Beach grief therapists. This may include individual grief therapy and group grief therapy. Seal Beach grief therapists include:
Lynn Klock
11110 Los Alamitos Blvd, Suite 213
Los Alamitos, California 90720
(714) 987-9772
Center for Integrative Health and Healing
13001 Seal Beach Blvd, Suite 360
Seal Beach, California 90740
(562) 338-4712
Lotus Circle Counseling Services
Seal Beach, California 90740
(714) 203-6605
