Franklin Haughton

Radcliffe Franklin Haughton, a 45-year-old male from Brown Deer, was tentatively identified as the shooter. Haughton was raised in Jamaica and moved to the United States as an adult, first taking up residence in Illinois, and later moving to the Milwaukee area. He had one daughter, age 12, with estranged wife Zina Haughton, and a stepdaughter, age 20, who was working in the building with her mother Zina Haughton at the time of the shooting. Haughton formerly served in the U.S. Marines.

His father, Radcliffe Haughton, Sr., of Florida said he spoke with his son a few days before and nothing seemed amiss. He had called for his son to turn himself in. At the time of the shooting, Haughton had been issued a restraining order and was not allowed to possess firearms. Less than a week before the shooting, Haughton warned his father and a neighbor that he would kill his wife and other people "if [he] had a gun". The day before the shooting, he purchased the weapon used in the shootings online for $500 and bought extra ammunition from a local store.