College student dies after police shoot projectile into postgame crowd
What happened to her should not happen to any American citizen going to any type of game, no matter what. She loved the Red Sox. She went in to celebrate with friends. She was a bystander. She was out of the way, but she still got shot. Awful things happen to good people. My daughter was an exceptional person.
- Rick Snelgrove
No one should ever have to bury a child. The death of an offspring is always a horribly cruel turn of events. How do you explain to a grieving parent that the death of their children was a terrible mistake? This is the task facing the Boston Police Department.
Yes, there were Red Sox fans who were celebrating in a disorderly fashion in Kenmore Square outside Fenway Park early yesterday morning. By all accounts, Tori Snelgrove was not among them. Ms. Snelgrove was merely an innocent bystander, guilty only of being at exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time.
To their credit, the Boston PD has accepted full responsibility for Ms. Snelgrove’s untimely and unfortunate death. I doubt that does much of anything to assuage Mr. Snelgrove’s grief and anger. He will never get to see his daughter’s college graduation, never get to give her away on her wedding day, never get to be present at the birth of his grandchild. All of those milestones a parent looks forward to celebrating with their child have been denied to the Snelgroves. Who’s going to make them whole? Certainly not the Boston Police Department.
BOSTON — A 21-year-old college student died Thursday of a head injury after a clash between police and a crowd of Red Sox fans who poured into the streets outside Fenway Park to celebrate their team’s victory over the New York Yankees.
Victoria Snelgrove, a journalism major at Emerson College in Boston, was shot in the eye by a projectile fired by an officer on crowd-control duty. The nature of the projectile was not immediately identified but the weapons are meant to be non-lethal.
During a news conference carried live on local television stations, Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole expressed the department’s sympathies to Snelgrove’s family and said the agency “accepts full responsibility for the death of Victoria Snelgrove.
“The Boston Police Department is devastated by this tragedy. This terrible event should never have happened,” O’Toole said.
Snelgrove, of East Bridgewater, was among 16 people hurt in Boston’s Kenmore Square neighborhood early Thursday morning, after thousands of fans spilled out onto the streets to celebrate the Red Sox winning the American League pennant. She died at Brigham and Women’s Hospital later in the day.
“It appears from evidence we have reviewed thus far that Tori was killed when she was hit in the eye by a projectile fired as officers tried to control mobs outside the ballpark,” O’Toole said. “Designated officers were equipped with less-lethal systems that use projectiles designed to break upon impact, dousing the target with (pepper-like) spray.”
O’Toole and Mayor Thomas Menino pledged to fully investigate the incident.
Of course, no amount of investigation will bring Victoria Snelgrove back. While there is blame that can be justifiably placed upon the Boston PD for what can only be explained as a horrific accident, there is also some that can and must be placed on those celebrating outside Fenway Park. If not for a poorly behaving minority that necessitated the presence of riot-control police, Ms. Snelgrove might still be alive and worrying about her next Journalism class assignment.
One can only hope that everyone involved will take a lesson away from this tragic incident. Yes, Boston is in the World Series, and it has an opportunity to win it’s first championship since 1918. Historical significance and years of extended futility and frustration aside, this is, after all, only a game we’re talking about. Is celebrating the success of your team worth the response that violent civil disobendience and joyous, destructive mayhem can provoke? Ask Rick Snelgrove.
Well, let's all blame the police for everything. This girl was just as guilty as the assholes that were destorying other peoples hard earned property. She should have realized she was in danger and got the hell out of there. Shit happens!
Gee, Dave...if this had been your daughter, or your sister, or your girlfriend, I wonder if you'd still be so callously indifferent to her plight? By all accounts, she was an innocent bystander who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You know, a little compassion really DOES go a long way....
Blame the Boston Police?? Let's examine this. The Boston Police would NOT have even been there had the Boston Riots NOT occured. I'm in St. Louis. Did St. Louis fans burn things, overturn cars, and bust up property when they clinched their first NL penant since 1987?????????????? NO! We're Mid-West sensible I guess. What happened in Boston won't happen in St. Louis, Indianapolis, or Nashville, etc. Why is that?? You give me the answer. There were lots of Victoria Snelgroves in downtown St. Louis. They are still alive. The Boston Police were just trying to prevent problems. It was an unfortunate freak accident. From the Mid West to the East Coast.....look at yourself first.
Steve K.
I happen to have a daughter attending grad school at Emerson in Boston. She lives in a brownstone on the same block as Fenway Park. She told me that everyone in town was excited about the game and then everyone started walking down to the Park. It was like a spontaneous gathering of fans. The streets were packed in little time with cars and people. The fans were celebrating and many were caught up in the crowd. Police were on horseback and lined the streets holding weapons. She sent me pictures. It was very intimidating for her. I lost my son at the age of 22 so I understand the pain this family is suffering. I was scared to death when I heard on the news that a female, Emerson student was killed in Boston Riot by Police! It all just reminds me too much of Kent State.
I can't really have an opinion here. Everything that's been said here was said, with only cosmetic variations, after the demonstrations in Miami last November, when I wound up in the ICU with a fractured skull.
Anything I could say would ring rather hollow in perspective.
Torie was one of my best friends. Thank you for your article. We're obviously all heart broken and don't know where to go from here. As we prepare to bury our friend, daughter, sister, aunt (and the list goes on) it helps to have the support and prayers of this country. Thank you.
No one that knows Torie WAS blaming hte Boston police, until the facts started coming out. She was trying to leave, in response to the DAve, but the officers were trying to herd everyone, and they wouldn't let her leave. I knew her, and am more agrivated at how she has been portrayed than anything. She wasn't drinking that night, and the police now do need to he held accountable. The police officer asked for a gun, after he has been accused of violence befroe (it was caught on tape). The police were also told not to aim at people, as they had not been trained to use these 'less than lethal' weapons, but to aim at the wall, so the pepper spray would disperse. They were told this and 16 people went to the hospital because of them. THere were about 100 out of 80,000 people being distructivem, yet less than 10 were arrested. The facts are starting to come out, and the police were negligent. It is not going to bring her back, but maybe a cop who shouldn't be there will be stopped from killing one of your friends or family.
Umm that was kinda messed up and rude(daves comment) Would U like someone to say that about you after being murdered!! She wasnt in the way she was a bystander and for you to say that it's just wrong. She was just celebrating her teams victory, Nothing wrong with that. It's the cops fault
This is to RadioMan, regarding the "Midwest-sensible" remarks. You'd sure think otherwise had you been in Bloomington, just 50 miles south of Indianapolis, which you name, for any of the NCAA titles IU won in basketball.
I was on the streets celebrating in 1976--the parties went on until dawn. Many (including me) were way too sloshed, but by and large, we were just making a lot of noise and kissing everybody. And it's tradition to go temporarily steal some campus sculptures, and that certainly happened.
There were a handful of people who did overturn cars and do other damage to private property, however. I had nothing to do with it, and the overwhelming majority of people did no property damage to anyone. Still, it happened, and yet the police here didn't harm anyone.
It's been like this for every IU championship and/or Final Four, and there are some people who get out of control and take it too far. The cops know those people are in the minority, but they also know they will be there and what they'll do, and the police are ready for them. While Bloomington is a much smaller place than Boston, it's also a much smaller force, yet the officers seem up to handling the crowd in a way where they don't hurt even the people who are way out of it. It seems to me that some police in Boston are lacking training, discipline, or the nerves for crowd control.
By the by, I lived in Boston long ago, and I wanted them to win and to be happy about it. But tonight, the victory tastes like ashes to me.
RadioMan and Dave Begy are two spineless, boot-licking pigs. And, oh, I live in the Midwest, have all my life, and I've seem many riots erupt as a result of a sports victoy/loss. These cops are trained and know better than to shoot these things at innocent bystanders at such a close range. This cop should be charged with murder. I can only hope RadioMan and Dave Begy get a taste of this in their own lives.
she wasnt in the protest Dave she was a bystander read the news ya jackass, maybe your daughter will be next?
Yes, there were Red Sox fans who were celebrating in a disorderly fashion in Kenmore Square outside Fenway Park early yesterday morning. By all accounts, Tori Snelgrove was not among them. Ms. Snelgrove was merely an innocent bystander, guilty only of being at exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time.