A slain student complained a former boyfriend was harassing her, but University of Utah police did

A slain student complained a former boyfriend was harassing her, but University of Utah police did not tell parole officials


University of Utah senior Lauren McCluskey had discovered the man she was dating was a registered sex offender.

She broke off their relationship on Oct. 9, her mother said, and when the man, Melvin S. Rowland, began harassing her days later, McCluskey told university police.

Monday night, Rowland went to campus and shot and killed McCluskey, a 21-year-old heptathlete on the U.'s track team. Rowland fled and fatally shot himself early Tuesday at a Salt Lake City church, police said.

The university’s police chief said Tuesday that his officers couldn’t find Rowland in the days before the shooting. But Rowland was on parole — and a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections said officials knew where he was living.

Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/10/23/university-utah-is/