Dale Shawn Hausner was born on February 4, 1973, in Arizona, United States. He grew up in a place where he was exposed to various aspects of life. Not much is detailed about his family background or early childhood, but it is known that he later worked as a custodian at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. He held this job starting in 1999. Along with this, he was also a boxing photojournalist for RingSports and Fightnews.com.

Dale Shawn Hausner and his accomplice, Samuel John Dieteman, committed a series of random shootings in Phoenix, Arizona, from May 2005 to July 2006. They targeted pedestrians and animals, resulting in tragic outcomes.

Hausner and Dieteman were found guilty of multiple murders. The first murder attributed to them was David Estrada, who was shot on June 29, 2005. Later, on November 11, 2005, they killed Nathaniel Shoffner, who tried to protect a dog during the attack. On December 29, 2005, they murdered Jose Ortiz and Marco Carillo. On May 2, 2006, Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz was fatally shot by Dieteman while Hausner drove the vehicle. The last victim was Robin Blasnek, shot and killed on July 30, 2006.

In August 2006, the police arrested Hausner and Dieteman based on a tip from a friend of Dieteman. This friend testified that Dieteman had confessed to the shootings while drinking. Following the arrests, police linked the suspects to multiple shootings and two arson fires at Wal-Mart stores.

Hausner faced numerous charges including 8 counts of first-degree murder and was convicted on March 13, 2009, for 6 of those murders. He was sentenced to death on March 27, 2009. Dieteman received a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to two murders.

On June 19, 2013, Hausner was found unresponsive in his prison cell and later died from an overdose on an anti-depressant. His death was ruled a suicide.