Lauren McCluskey’s last words on the phone with her mother were “No, no, no!”
The 21-year-old student-athlete was fatally shot on the University of Utah campus by her former boyfriend on Monday night, shortly after speaking with her mom on the phone, authorities said. The suspect, 37-year-old Melvin Rowland, killed himself hours later.
Jill McCluskey said she had been talking on the phone with her daughter as she returned from a night class and heard her yell, “No, no, no!” A few minutes later, a woman picked up the phone and said all of Lauren McCluskey’s belongings were on the ground.
“I thought she might have been in a car accident,” Jill McCluskey said.
“That was the last I heard from her.”
Lauren McCluskey dated Rowland for a month and ended the relationship on Oct. 9, when she learned he had lied about his age, name and status as a sex offender, Jill McCluskey said in a statement. It wasn’t clear how the two met.
Investigators had been working to build a case against Rowland after Lauren McCluskey filed a police complaint against him, university police chief Dale Brophy said.
McCluskey was found shot in a car Monday night near on-campus student housing. Rowland killed himself hours later at a church when police tracked him down after linking him to the killing through a description, clothing and evidence at the scene, authorities said.
Brophy wouldn’t disclose details from her report.
A history of sex offences
Rowland spent nearly a decade in prison after pleading guilty to trying to lure an underage girl online and attempted sex abuse charges, according to court records.
He was charged with two separate crimes in September 2003, said Paul Amann, the prosecutor on the case.
Rowland had been caught in an online sex crimes sting when a police officer posed as a 13-year-old girl. After he was charged, a woman came forward to report he had sexually assaulted her after a separate online meeting a few days earlier.
“He was just out of control. He had no self-control,” Amann said Tuesday.
Rowland pleaded guilty to enticing a minor over the internet and attempted forcible sex abuse in an agreement with prosecutors, records show. His defence attorney did not immediately return a call Tuesday seeking comment.
Rowland was released from prison in 2012 after serving eight years and was twice sent back from halfway houses after violating parole, Utah prison spokeswoman Kaitlin Felsted said. He was most recently paroled in April and was living on his own.
Rowland was prohibited from owning a gun on parole and it was unclear how he obtained one.
Shooting panic on campus
Initial reports of the shooting sparked panic on the Salt Lake City campus. University officials ordered students to stay in place for about three hours as they searched for the gunman.
University of Utah student Jonas Woychick said he was playing pool when he got a message about an on-campus shooter. He and eight other students waited in a bathroom for two hours until they learned it was safe.
“I didn’t know if this shooter was going for other people, or if he was just targeting one person,” said Woychick, who is from Boise, Idaho.
Lauren McCluskey was a senior track athlete and communication major from Pullman, Washington. She enjoyed competing in track and was excited about graduating next spring, said her mother, a professor at Washington State University. She added that her daughter was a Washington state high jump champion in high school and loved to sing.
University president Ruth Watkins said classes were cancelled Tuesday and a vigil would be held Wednesday night.
“As a campus community, we share grief over this tragic loss of life,” Watkins said in a statement.
Athletics director Mark Harlan said counsellors and psychologists were available to support McCluskey’s teammates, coaches and friends. He said she was a proud Ute and an outstanding student-athlete.
“This isn’t right,” Harlan said. “I don’t really have any words. My heart goes out to her family … When something like this happens, it defies any logic, any reason.”