A woman who appeared to be stuck in a cycle of domestic abuse with Christopher Dmuchowski sought help a month before tragedy struck.

RUSKIN, Fla. — The 34-year-old man accused of shooting two Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies before a third deputy shot and killed him on July 16 faced multiple allegations of domestic violence in Hillsborough and Manatee counties over the last few years. 

The most recent incident accusations came out last week when Sheriff Chad Chronister said a woman came into their District 4 office to report a domestic violence incident. She said Christopher Dmuchowski, who was her ex-boyfriend, held her at gunpoint the night before. 

“Zip ties her legs, takes a sock, places it in her mouth, and places some tape over her mouth,” Chronister said during a news conference. “Several times throughout the evening as she gains consciousness and loses consciousness, he tells her as he’s holding her at gunpoint that he’s going to kill her.”

The search for Dmuchowski that day led to a home in the 100 block of W. Shell Point Road. It was there that the sheriff said Dmuchowski shot two deputies – one in the face and hand, the other in the neck. Both survived the violence. 

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A further look into Dmuchowski’s background revealed more. Hillsborough County court records show in June, a woman filed for a civil order of protection against domestic violence, naming Dmuchowski as the aggressor. 

“We were verbally arguing. Then he came from behind and choked me. I shoved him after I got up,” the note said of a June interaction with Dmuchowski. “Police called last wknd. Toxic situation. My fault. Chose this. Need help getting away from my mess…”

The Spring of Tampa Bay President and CEO Mindy Murphy said it is common for survivors of domestic abuse to blame themselves when the abuse is not their fault. 

“It’s very hard to get away from somebody who doesn’t want to be gotten away from,” she said. “And it speaks to just how dangerous it is when women or men who are experiencing domestic violence, when they attempt to leave, it, is the single greatest time for the risk that you’re going to be killed.”

Records suggest the woman tried multiple times to get away but was met with violence and threats. In the June incident, records show the woman alleged Dmuchowski choked her for hours and threatened to leak “bad video” of her on social media. 

“Dangerous. Please help me,” the letter reads. 

She reported Dmuchowski had a history of alcohol and mental health problems, but a judge dismissed the case after the woman didn’t show up for a scheduled hearing.

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“He could have told her… ‘I’m going to kill you if you try and go to the court.’ He could have restricted her movement. We don’t know,” Murphy said. 

Dmuchowski, who had felony convictions for drugs and tampering with evidence, also had a criminal case out of Manatee County in 2024. The same woman accused Dmuchowski of getting into her locked home and choking her until she fell unconscious. 

“He sounds like he was repeatedly strangling her. It’s incredibly dangerous,” said Murphy. “Strangulation is a single greatest predictor of an abuser’s ability to eventually kill you…”

Murphy said anyone who’s ever experienced this should notify a doctor immediately. 

“We focus a lot on concussion in sport, but women actually experience abusive head trauma and concussion and loss of oxygen at much higher frequencies than men because of the sheer number of victims of domestic violence who are overwhelmingly women in our society,” Murphy said. “I would say, please get checked out medically because strangulation can have lingering effects years into the future. And sometimes it’s a silent killer, five, six, ten years later.”

Murphy said Hillsborough County gets more than 6,000 calls for domestic violence every year, with many of them flagged as high-risk cases. 

“You should not feel like you’re alone in this. We are here. We’re here to come alongside you,” said Murphy. “And we can help you stay safer as you try and navigate a very dangerous situation.”

Emerald Morrow is an investigative reporter with 10 Tampa Bay News. Like her on Facebook. You can also email her at emorrow@10tampabay.com.