Could the salon mass shooting have been prevented?

MILWAUKEE -- There is little doubt that Radcliffe Haughton's target in the Azana Salon & Spa shooting on Sunday, October 21st was his estranged wife, Zina. But could this incident have been prevented or even expected?

FOX6 News talked with Milwaukee County Chief Judge Jeffrey Kremers. He's on the faculty of a national institute that trains judges across the country on how to deal with domestic violence situations.

The court had granted Zina Haughton a four-year restraining order against her husband, Radcliffe on October 18th. This, after violence had escalated between the two in recent weeks. Radcliffe Haughton was to not have contact with Zina, and was to turn any weapons in to authorities.

Instead, two days later, Radcliffe Haughton bought a gun from a private citizen, and then entered the salon on Sunday and opened fire.

Judge Kremers says it's impossible for a judge to know whether a husband will act upon his obvious rage.

"I know what some people have said and certainly will say in this case -- 'what good is a restraining order? It won`t stop a bullet. It won't stop a knife.' From a strictly literal sense, that's absolutely accurate. However, what we do know from studies -- there was one down in Tennessee just a couple of years ago. In those cases where women got restraining orders they worked more often than they didn't. This is a very rare occurence given the number of cases," Judge Kremers said.

In Milwaukee County, about 1,100 domestic violence restraining orders are issued a year. Judge Kremers says very few of those result in homicide or serious injury. Most people follow the law. He only wishes there was a way to know which people will not follow the law.

CLICK HERE for additional coverage of the Azana Salon & Spa shooting via FOX6Now.com.