Los Angeles -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a 41-year-old Southern California man charged Friday with murder in this week 's mass shooting at a hair salon , Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said . Scott Evans Dekraai of Huntington Beach , California , allegedly shot his ex-wife and seven other people to death at the Salon Meritage in the small coastal community of Seal Beach , Rackauckas said Friday . A ninth person was wounded . Prosecutors formally filed eight counts of first-degree murder and a felony count of attempted murder against Dekraai on Friday . The first-degree murder charges carry the special circumstance of multiple murder , the prosecutor said . Dekraai and his ex-wife , Michelle Fournier , 48 , were in a custody battle over their 8-year-old son , and the dispute was the motive in the shooting , Rackauckas said . The prosecutor called Dekraai `` a methodical and merciless killer . '' On Friday afternoon , Dekraai appeared before Orange County Judge Erick L. Larsh , who , at the request of attorneys , rescheduled Dekraai 's arraignment to November 29 . Dekraai is not taking his antipsychotic medication , and his attorney asked the court to make the drugs available to Dekraai while he is being held in jail without bail . The judge said he would order a medical team to evaluate Dekraai and , in a response to another defense request , would see if Dekraai 's current wife could deliver his spinal cord implant stimulator , which is needed because of a 2007 accident Dekraai experienced . Balding and with a salt-and-pepper goatee , Dekraai appeared calm inside the courtroom 's detainee cage . One person in the gallery shouted `` You coward ! '' Then , as he exited the courtroom , a sobbing woman uttered `` I hate you ! I hate you ! '' Dekraai 's attorney , Robert Curtis of Long Beach , told the court that he 's considering a change of venue . Earlier Friday , authorities held a press conference and recounted how Dekraai 's ex-wife , a hair stylist at the salon , was working near the entrance and was among the first two people shot . On the morning of the shooting , which occurred Wednesday , Dekraai and Fournier got into an argument about child custody , authorities said . `` We 're sort of guessing . We believe that the custody battle was n't going well for him . We do n't know the contents of their conversation or anything , '' Rackauckas said . Hours later , the gunfire rampage at the salon , just blocks from the ocean , unfolded around 1:20 p.m. , authorities said . `` He also considered the people who were friends and who worked with his ex-wife were enablers , and he did n't have much use for them either , '' Rackauckas said . He was armed with three guns -- a 9 mm Springfield , a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum , and a Heckler & Koch .45 -- and was wearing body armor during the shooting rampage , Rackauckas said . He used at least two of those guns , the prosecutor said . Rackauckas summarized the mass shooting , saying Dekraai `` walked through the salon shooting anyone close enough to hit . He stopped to reload during this spree , and he continued gunning people down . He was not satisfied with murdering his intended target , his ex-wife . For almost two minutes , Dekraai shot victim after victim , executing people by shooting them in the head and chest . `` He shot eight people inside the salon . But he was not done . He then walked out of the salon and shot a ninth victim , a male , who was sitting nearby in a parked Range Rover . The reason for this rampage : revenge , '' he said . `` We believe that 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 . He was willing to end any life in his path , and he did . Clearly this two-minute murder spree could not have been about loving his son , '' the prosecutor said . While Dekraai allegedly carried out the mass murder , his son was sitting alone in the principal 's office at school , waiting for his mother or father to pick him up , authorities said . `` That little boy is also a victim . He is now left to mourn the murder of his mother and grow up with the knowledge that his father -LRB- allegedly -RRB- committed a mass murder , '' Rackauckas said . `` What sick , twisted fatherly love is this ? '' In addition to Fournier of Los Alamitos , the people killed were salon employee Victoria Ann Buzzo , 54 , of Laguna Beach ; David Caouette , 64 , of Seal Beach , who was in the vehicle outside the salon ; salon employee Laura Lee Elody , 46 , of Huntington Beach ; salon owner Randy Lee Fannin , 62 , of Murrieta ; salon client Michele Daschbach Fast , 47 , of Seal Beach ; salon client Lucia Bernice Kondas , 65 , of Huntington Beach ; and salon employee Christy Lynn Wilson , 47 , of Lakewood , authorities said . Dekraai allegedly shot Caouette , who was in the parked vehicle , in the head through a closed front passenger side window , authorities said . The ninth victim , Harriet Stretz , 73 , of Los Alamitos is in critical condition . She was at the salon getting her hair done by her daughter , Laura Elody , who was among the victims . `` We do know that the victims were shot multiple times each , '' Rackauckas said . About 20 people were inside the salon during the shooting , and many of them were `` playing dead , hiding in backrooms , trying to get back behind things , just trying to stay out of his way , '' Rackauckas said . Added Seal Beach Acting Police Chief Tim Olson : `` Scott Dekraai is a coward . He armed himself with three handguns and body armor because he did n't want to be shot by police . '' Police arrested Dekraai without incident as he was trying to leave the scene in a vehicle two blocks from the salon , police said . Dekraai was in possession of the three guns and `` a significant amount of ammunition in his truck , '' prosecutors said . In the past several months , Fournier complained to Seal Beach police about Dekraai picking up their son from school earlier than the court-ordered mandate , Olson said . That matter was forwarded to family court , and Olson said he did n't know of the complaint 's disposition . In 2007 , in Long Beach , Dekraai 's father-in-law applied for a temporary restraining order , but there was no follow-up , Rackauckas said . An online search of Orange County court records shows the couple filed for divorce in 2007 , with activity in the case continuing through this week . A child custody evaluator was appointed by the court in April , records show . Fournier claimed in court papers that Dekraai was mentally unstable , had threatened to kill himself or someone else and `` was almost manic when it comes to demanding absolute right to control our son , '' CNN affiliate KTLA said . The couple was in court the day before the shooting , and a judge had kept custody between them equal , KTLA said . In 1994 , Dekraai filed for bankrupcy , according to court records . The Salon Meritage is located on the Pacific Coast Highway in Seal Beach , which residents describe as a small and `` fairly intimate '' coastal town . `` We have multiple years with zero homicides , so this obviously is an unusual and tragic circumstance , '' Seal Beach police Sgt. Steve Bowles said . The shooting is the deadliest in Orange County history , KTLA said . In 1976 , Edward Charles Allaway shot nine people , killing seven , at California State University Fullerton . CNN 's Traci Tamura , Gabriel Ramirez , Ashley Hayes and Carey Bodenheimer contributed to this report .