Pubdate: Mon, 19 Sep 2005
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Jonathan Jenkins And Rob Lamberti, Toronto Sun

VICTIM WAS 'ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS'

Drug Purchase Gone Bad Is Suspected As Motive Behind Gun Battle That Left 2 
Dead

Big, strong and fiercely devoted to the friends and family he was almost 
always surrounded by, Donald Rawluck died among strangers, his grieving 
family said yesterday.

"If this was part of his life, then he was leading a double life," 
Rawluck's sister, Kristy, said of her brother's baffling presence at what 
cops believe was a drug deal gone wrong on Tandridge Cres. that left two 
dead and one critically injured.

"They took away one of the good guys. Bottom line, he was a good kid."

Rawluck, 24, died from a bullet to the back of the head Friday night, along 
with Joseph Santos, 25. Shane "Alky" James, 26, is in unstable and critical 
condition at Sunnybrook hospital after extensive surgery to his lungs, 
liver and colon.

He is well known to police and was not expected to survive the night but 
surgeons worked furiously to keep him alive.

Rawluck's family swears neither they nor any of his many friends know the 
two other men shot with him, or why he was with them that night.

"Now his son (Kadin) has to grow up without his father," his ex-girlfriend 
Tessa Street said. "I told him what happened and he said, 'It's going to be 
okay mom, we'll be okay.' "

At 5-foot-11 and 235 pounds, Rawluck was a tremendously strong tire 
technician capable of tossing truck tires around with little effort and 
changing flats faster than anyone else.

He always had a job and worked long hours every day, and could never pass 
someone with a flat without stopping and helping, even in his dress clothes.

His family believes his strength, loyalty and willingness to defend anyone 
may have led to his involvement in the shooting, although they've never 
known him to be involved with guns or drug-dealing.

And while he and Tessa had once lived near the scene of the murder, he 
detested the violence in the area and moved away as soon as he could.

Big Heart

"He hated that neighbourhood," Tessa said. "He had the biggest heart of 
anyone I've ever met. He was a traditional family man and anyone he knew, 
he loved them like a brother."

His mother, Janet, said he never walked through her door without a clutch 
of friends he'd invited over to dinner. The birth of his son, she said, was 
the proudest day of his life.

Cops believe a gun battle broke out over a botched drug deal and are hoping 
security cameras will help them understand how it happened. One gun was 
found at the scene, near one of the victims.

The three men were in a BMW with Rawluck at the wheel, although he didn't 
own the car.

Homicide Det.-Sgt. Terry Wark said it's possible a fourth man may have been 
shot in the gunfight.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-7386 or Crime 
Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
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