The father of a Blair girl killed by police after they said she shot at them is showing forgiveness to the officers involved and hoping his daughter's death can be used as a teaching moment to help others.
Farrah Rauch and Joseph Dugan, both 17 and juniors at Blair High School, died following an officer-involved shooting Feb. 28 in Muskogee, Okla.
Steven Rauch has invited the four officers and Police Chief Johnny Teehee to his daughter Farrah's memorial, which is 2 p.m. Wednesday at Christ Lutheran Church on the former Dana College campus.
Steven said he wants to apologize to them for his daughter putting them in that position.
“They had no idea this was a 17-year-old girl,” he said. “They were devastated … I don't want them to suffer for the rest of their life. I can't imagine what they have to live with and still do their job.”
Farrah and her boyfriend, Joseph, ran away Feb. 25. They traveled to Florida to Arkansas and then to Oklahoma.
At approximately 3 p.m. Feb. 28, police responded to an attempted carjacking near the 2200 block of North 24th Street in Muskogee.
A short time later, a truck was reported stolen in the same area of the attempted carjacking. Muskogee police spotted the vehicle and attempted to stop it. The driver of the vehicle refused to stop and led officers on a short chase before crashing. Farrah and Joseph fled the vehicle.
Officers chased the suspects. That's when Farrah reportedly started shooting at the officers and they returned fire, fatally injuring her.
Joseph continued running. Police used a drone to locate him in a heavily wooded area. As officers approached, the boy took his own life with a single self-inflicted gunshot.
Steven said he has learned at least two of the officers and Teehee will attend the memorial service. He has asked Teehee to speak.
“He's got a message for us and we have a message for him,” Steven said.
Teehee told Tulsa TV station News On 6 he was “shocked” when he got the invitation. He never expected for Steven to invite him and the four officers involved in the shooting to come and speak at Farrah's funeral.
“To me it's something you have to rely on God to do. Obviously, there's a message that somebody in the family, or in that community, needs to hear, and God needs me to be the messenger,” Teehee said.
As a young girl, Steven said Farrah was “a happy, fun, adventurous thinking kid.”
But after her parents' divorce in 2012, issues followed. For the last four years, Steven said Farrah struggled with depression, self harm and addiction.
“She's been seeking freedom from deep, dark depression of cutting and self harm and getting lost in the peer pressure,” Steven said.
Steven said what happened to Farrah can be used to help other teenagers in similar situations.
“Her life ended for a purpose,” Steven said.
Teens don't have to get to the point that Farrah did, he said. Instead, he said they can make a choice now to seek help, start listening to others and be honest.
Steven has also invited those who attend Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Al-Anon to attend Farrah's memorial and support each other.
“If we can save one life, Farrah has performed a miracle in this world,” he said.
