Heartbroken plea: Family: No more violence By Franci Richardson Sunday, October 24, 2004The heartbroken family of the Emerson College student killed by a Boston Police-fired pepper spray gun blamed her death yesterday on the unruly crowd that rioted after the Red Sox clinched the penant.
Victoria Snelgrove's parents and brother also created a short public service announcement that aired at last night's first World Series game, encouraging fans to ``Keep the Faith and Stop the Violence.''
``This is what she would have loved and we want to get the message across,'' the avid Sox fan's brother, Michael Snelgrove, 24, told the Herald yesterday. ``We can't let this stuff happen anymore.''
The grieving brother said his family holds the crowd responsible for her death.
The 10-second ad flashed an attractive black-and-white picture of Snelgrove taken her senior year.
Her family planned to watch the game from their East Bridgewater home, but Michael Snelgrove added, ``I know she'll be (at Fenway).'' There was a moment of silence before last night's game in Snelgrove's memory.
Snelgrove, 21, died Thursday morning after a patrolman fired into a crowd while special operations tried to create order out of chaos.
Two patrolmen - whose names have been withheld - have gone out on injured leave.
``They're struggling - they and their families,'' said a source.
Shortly after the young Snelgrove's death, Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole met with the family. They regarded her condolences as ``very sincere,'' Michael Snelgrove said.
At Fenway last night, ``hundreds more'' police from the South Shore came to the area. Guards from the state Department of Correction were also called in to provide prisoner transport.
Meanwhile, police are trying to determine whether other officers were involved in the shooting, a source said.
``(Police) haven't determined yet which officers shot and how many rounds they shot,'' a source said.
Police are also investigating whether the gun was defective.
``They're looking into every possibility, including that,'' said Beverly Ford, Boston police spokeswoman.
The pepper spray gun was not designed to fatally injure a target, said another source, experienced with the guns.
O'Toole has shelved the guns and armed her patrol force last night with less-lethal pepper-spraying guns.
``It doesn't have the velocity of the one that was used that night,'' a source said.
Snelgrove was an aspiring broadcast reporter. A member of the field hockey, track and tennis teams, she had graduated East Bridgewater High School in 2001.
Her brother, Michael, said she enjoyed listening to bands like Good Charlotte, taking pictures and creating scrapbooks.
Snelgrove's funeral will be held 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. John's Church in East Bridgewater.
( Laurel Sweet and David Wedge contributed to this report. )
