Letter to the Editor: Spring Street Residents Speak Out

Editor's Note: This letter to the editor was submitted Monday evening in regard to .

As we sit looking at the aftermath of Claire Rush’s last tragic day, we are feeling completely frustrated in the way that it ended.

For years, our neighborhood has been affected by her abhorrent behavior.  Each time there was an incident in which the Peters Township police responded, we were told that there was nothing they could do.

Fortunately, none of the officers were hurt in the standoff, however, that does not explain Chief Harry Fruecht’s cavalier attitude that day…laughing with other responders as the home burned. As the chief law enforcement officer in the township, we feel he should have had the professionalism to come to each of the neighbors and express some concern for what we had experienced.

Reflecting on it all now, we have to question how the system failed to protect a woman who had been crying out for help with a pattern of behavior that spanned nearly a decade. 

We question why after Claire had been committed in 2009 for threatening her husband’s and her own life with a gun, that the sheriff’s office had no ability to remove the many firearms from the home. 

Afterall, if a person’s driver’s license is taken away for repeated traffic violations or for driving under the influence, shouldn’t there be the authority to take away weapons from persons who have a history of mental illness and repeated police intervention?

As a matter of public safety, we need to examine the current laws and make changes so that our law enforcement is not rendered impotent until the situation has reached a point where they are faced with a dangerous standoff. It seems the system is set up to protect the rights of the very people committing crimes, while law abiding citizens’ freedoms are being compromised.

-Residents of Spring Street