2 students shot dead had sought cops' help
Walter Pacheco | Sentinel Staff Writer
September 27, 2007
Roughly three hours before they died, Tiffany Barwick and Michael Ruschak asked Seminole County deputy sheriffs for protection from the man they feared would kill them.
Andrew Allred, Barwick's former boyfriend, had raided her bank account, tampered with her MySpace page and sent phony messages to her family and friends, she told deputies. He e-mailed Ruschak saying, "The next time I see you, I'm going to kill you," and sent Barwick an image of herself covered with bullet holes, a report of the meeting states.
A deputy replied that he could do nothing at that time.
Later on Monday night, Allred plowed into Barwick's car outside Ruschak's home in Oviedo, broke in and shot him dead. He then walked into the bathroom, where Barwick was hiding, and shot her, according to the arrest report. (Hear new audio of the 911 calls made from the home.)
Another man who tried to wrestle the gun from Allred was shot in the leg.
Sheriff's officials defended the agency's handling of the plea for help, recounted in a four-page report released Wednesday. The deputy who responded to Barwick and Ruschak's complaints did "the best he could," Chief Deputy Steven Harriett said.
"The deputy and everyone in this department truly regrets that these two young people lost their lives in this way, but the deputy had to deal with the information available at the time," Harriett said. "He made a decision he thought was the most appropriate."
Carol Wick, chief executive officer of Harbor House, an organization that offers shelter to victims of domestic violence, said the case should make the Sheriff's Office reconsider its procedures. What happened, she said, "It's just tragic."
Allred, 21, is being held without bail at John Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford, where he faces two counts of homicide, attempted homicide and armed burglary in the shootings on Shady Oak Lane.
Acquaintances said he was bitter about his breakup with Barwick, a student at Seminole Community College, and directed his anger at her and Ruschak, a student at the University of Central Florida. The three had been friends, according to these accounts, until Barwick ended her relationship with Allred in August.
Sheriff's records show that Barwick, 19, first called deputies at 11:30 a.m. Monday alleging that Allred had tapped into her Bank of America account and withdrawn money without her permission.
At 7:09 p.m. she told another deputy that Allred just sent Ruschak, 22, a message threatening his life and that he had recently purchased a gun. She pleaded with the deputy to "lock him [Allred] up."
Seminole Deputy Peter Sean Brewer, who met with Barwick and Ruschak, wrote in his report that "Allred's actions did not meet the necessary elements for a charge of assault. and as such, I could not arrest him for making those threats."
He said the law required him to observe harassing communications to make an arrest, but that he would forward her complaint and other materials to the State Attorney's Office for consideration of possible charges.
He advised her to seek a protective court order against Allred and to keep records of any e-mails, text messages and voice messages from him. Other suggestions included changing her cell-phone number and calling 911 if she saw Allred's vehicle.
Investigators said gunfire broke out about 10:30 p.m. during a party at Ruschak's home. Oviedo police later arrested Allred at the home he shares with his family in Oviedo. Officers said he confessed to the crimes and asked them about the condition of "the ones that were shot," according to the arrest report.
He told officers he went to the house to ram his girlfriend's car but shot his way through a sliding glass door when he could not enter the front door. Authorities recovered the handgun they think he used.
Oviedo Lt. Dennis Lynch said homicide investigators are reviewing 911 calls made from the house on the night of the shooting.
Friends and family had mixed reactions on the events that led to Monday's shooting.
"My opinion is that if you get a restraining order, it is just a piece of paper," said Ruschak's mother, Janice. "I know police are doing their best, and I don't want to blame them."
Even if Barwick had sought a protective order against Allred, the forms must be filed at the Seminole County Courthouse, then sent to a judge and finally the Sheriff's Office.
Court officials said the process could take a day or two.
Wick said she doubted it would have helped.
"Allred would not have been served the order in time and, even if he was, who knows if that would have stopped him?" Wick said. "Sometimes there's nothing you can do about it."
Two Seminole County crime-scene technicians continued working Wednesday at the duplex where the shootings took place, gathering evidence.
Barwick's white Chevrolet Cavalier, its back caved in, sat about 15 feet from the front door. Still in the driveway was Ruschak's car, an old police cruiser, a black Ford Crown Victoria with a search light attached to the driver's side.
Phone messages left Wednesday with Allred's mother were not immediately returned. A neighbor described Allred as "a very smart kid" who was a computer whiz. Others also commented on his technological skill, but expressed shock at the charges against him.
"He is a very intelligent man. Never in a million years would I have suspected this," said Daniel Morman, a UCF student who spent time watching movies, drinking beer and building bonfires at Allred's rural home. "He didn't appear to have that in him. I guess you always hope your friends are good people."
But former UCF student Erinn Redd, who knew Allred and Ruschak since their days at Oviedo High School, remembered Allred as "deviously clever and capable of taking matters to the extreme."
He had threatened other friends in the past, she said. "But we never expected him to go murder someone."
"Just a Piece of Paper"
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