Posted on 10/27/2004 3:39:52 AM PDT by ninonitti
A police superintendent and at least two special operations officers ``randomly'' sprayed pepper pellets into a raucous crowd outside Fenway Park in the moments before an Emerson College student was struck in the eye and killed, a witness told the Herald.
``I saw (Deputy Superintendent Robert O'Toole) and the other special operations officers flailing their guns from side to side like machine guns,'' said Giovanni De Francisci, 30, an Emerson College graduate student. ``They were just popping off shots at the crowd.''
De Francisci, who said he was standing near O'Toole when he asked another officer for a pepper-pellet gun, did not know O'Toole's name until he saw him in a photograph in the Herald.
He and another source identified O'Toole, the commander of the Boston police special operations unit, as one of the officers who fired high-powered pepper-pellet guns to quell a rioting crowd after the Red Sox won the American League pennant last week.
Boston police have placed O'Toole in an administrative support position pending the results of multiple investigations. Pepper pellets fired by police killed 21-year-old Victoria Snelgrove.
As the investigations deepened yesterday, with private attorneys and independent investigators promising a thorough review, O'Toole hired Needham lawyer Timothy Burke to represent him.
``That should not be taken as a suggestion that Bob O'Toole has done anything wrong,'' said Burke's law partner, Brian Rogal.
O'Toole issued a statement through his attorney, saying, ``I am personally devastated that the actions of the Boston police played any role in causing this tragedy and bringing such pain to her family,'' reported WFXT-TV (Ch. 25). ``My hopes and prayers go out to her family.''
Two other police officers involved in the Fenway riot have been placed on injured leave. Two sources familiar with the investigation identified one of the officers as Rochefort ``Rocky'' Milien, 48. He has been on the department since January 1991.
With scrutiny of police actions increasing, a lawyer hired by one of the young men injured by pepper pellets said he has been contacted by several other people claiming they, too, were hurt when cops opened fire.
Attorney Jeffrey Denner, who represents Boston University student Kapila Bhamidpati, questioned yesterday why O'Toole, the supervisor of riot control efforts at Fenway, would be firing a weapon with his officers.
``If you're out there shooting, you cannot be supervising and making good decisions,'' Denner said.
Bhamidpati, a 19-year-old honors student who was hit in the head by a pepper pellet, said he has been in constant pain since doctors removed part of the pellet from inside his sinus cavity. The pellet penetrated so far into his skull that it nearly became lodged in his brain.
``It was like someone taking a hammer and hitting me on the forehead as hard as they could,'' said Bhamidpati, who was shot while descending a metal beam in Fenway Park's outer superstructure.
Another man, Paul Gately, 24, said he was struck in the lip while sitting on a metal beam behind Fenway's Green Monster and was pelted a dozen more times when he came down.
Denner said the statements made by Gately and his client smack of impulsive decision-making by police who were scrambling to prevent the riot from spiraling out of control.
``No one expects the police to be defenseless, but neither do we expect innocent civilians to be executed in this context,'' he said.
De Francisci, the witness in the middle of the chaos, said he saw O'Toole firing a pellet gun on people climbing the ballpark walls.
``Without a warning, without sending a policeman over to them, Bob O'Toole fired at least three or four shots fairly randomly at the crowd that was on top of the ledge,'' De Francisci said. ``When we told him to stop, he said, `Shut up or I'm going to arrest you, too.' ''
I guess he may have skipped his anger management classes
This guy's appearance is straight out of the Simpson's - a real credit to the department.
Why did the BPD hold onto this deadwood for so long and is he going to pay for the millions that will need to shelled out as a result of his actions......Boston Taxpayers want to know.
BOHICA, Boston taxpayer.
They interviewed a young kid, maybe 21 on local TV in Boston. He and his girlfriend got out of the street to avoid the nut jobs. Just like the poor girl that died he was hit in the face. Ripped his upper lip apart. He claims he approached cops, hands raised, asking for help. Then he lifted his shirt and showed a bunch (12) of major hits on his body. Have to say I think the Boston cops are very heavy handed. Sorry guys, I'm usually pro cop, but in Boston, can't do it.
Here's a tip for all the Liberal morons in Boston. Haven't you ever seen film of Soccer Riots in Europe??? The Rodney King Trial??? Don't place yourself in position of imminent danger. This woman could have been trampled to death in a stampede, raped in an alley, mugged, molested, robbed, or just possibly "accidently" hit by police fire while they attempted to maintain order. Order would be the opposite of CHAOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't trick-or-treat in Harlem either!
Dying from a what was essentially a paintball hit is a pretty random, once-in-a-million event. Loss of an eye is something that I wouldn't have been surprised at, but a capsicum paintball causing death is a really low-probability, hitting-the-$100M-lottery event.
Not defending the misuse (massive random unaimed shooting into the crowd), just commenting on the bizarreness of the event based on my perception of the liklihood of it occuring.
"He got out of the street?????????" Heres a tip. Take your girlfriend (I'm surprised it wasn't his boyfriend} and stay home. Watch the highlights on ESPN and have a glass of champagne. Ain't facial plastic surgery a bitch though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What do you expect, it is Boston and it is known for an extremely high level of criminal activity on all sides. By the way is Whitey Burgher running for office this year or is he still hanging out at the FBI Club Med?
Ya got to love those Liberal metro's...evidently the FBI does.
Fox TV stayed on air for quite a while after the game, showing the crowds. The female "newsperson" even said they were focusing in on the hoodlums so the police could identify them.
Anyway...there were some incidences that were bad...turning over cars, burning something, some smashed windows. But, it wasn't a "riot". Considering the station was purposely focusing on the worst actors, it was a number that could've been located and arrested.
My question was why did the police have horses out there? Horses spook easily. It's a miracle that the horses didn't stampede.
What happened is just awful. Crowds are inherently dangerous, and shooting at them in the dark seems like a way to incite them. The thing that is very troubling (more than any police decision) is that there was a photographer there, taking pictures of a woman who was dying, and that picture ended up on the front page of the BOSTON HERALD. Society would've been better served if he were doing something to help her and find medical attention.
The other thing I find troubling is, like with the quick use of the riot police in Yankee Stadium, the potential that better-equipped police departments (for terror) can be used against the general population.
Have you ever heard of a civil servant being fired for incompetence?
As an avid paintballer....you can set the velocity in a pretty wide range. The velocity for most tournenmant at required to be below 300fps.
I've seen guns chron'ed at over 500 fps before calibration. With the thicker "skins" on a capsicum paintball; the devastation on being hit in soft tissue areas would be substantial. Some penatration would be expected.
The intended use for these guns where to specificall target individual "troublemakers" within a crowd to prevent a mob mentality fom taking hold. They were never intended to be a "spray and pray" device.
The response and actions by the certain members of the Boston Police need to be carefully investigated.
NeverGore
Have you ever heard of a MA civil servent being dumped for incompetence, lying, prevaricating, doing nothing, drowning young girls, not showing up at committee meetings, flip-flopping, etc?
I often see police horses used for crowd control situations. They are trained NOT to spook. They are great for moving through a crowd where a person on foot, motorcycle or bicycle can't.
Had to read that twice. Sounds like a riot if it was your car(s) that got turned over, your windows that were smashed, or your "somthing" that got burned.
If people are are even apt to do these types of things, the thing to do is to certainly not go in the first place, or get the heck out of there the instant it starts. otherwise, anyone near by is in harms way.
Doing such things is not "fun"...it's the definition of a riot for those doing it, and it is dangerous for anyone near by...as was tragically proven.
>>The intended use for these guns where to specificall target individual "troublemakers" within a crowd to prevent a mob mentality fom taking hold. They were never intended to be a "spray and pray" device.
>>The response and actions by the certain members of the Boston Police need to be carefully investigated.
Agree wholeheartedly. That's why I commented that I wasn't trying to defend the police on this one. The way they were using this stuff, they should have been using CS or mass pepper spraying.
What they've been saying here on talk radio about this incident is that if you have 13 hits on the front of your body, then it means you weren't leaving when you were told to. No one (talk radio hosts) believes that he was hit 13 times randomly for no reason.
I watched that same feed and that's why I've been so adamant about calling these folks revelers instead of the CYA rioters that the LEOs have been using.
The property destruction took place BLOCKS away from where these weapons were used by at least cops untrained in their use.
The decision to move the mounted unit down the street was ill advised given the size of the crowd and the fact clubs were disgorging their patrons into Landsdowne Street at the same time. The unit was just swallowed up by the crowd. One of the horses did spook (just goes to show how good the training is at the BPD)which precipated "Rambo" O'Toole grabbing an FN303 out of a vehicle and opening up on the crowd.
In MA we run those people out of town on a presidental campaign.....;~)
Hey, I'm just repeating what I've been hearing on the radio. I really don't know much about this kind of thing. I'd rather sit home and watch the Red Sox win than celebrate in a huge crowd. ;-) I'm sorry to hear you're a Yankees fan. But, if you're a conservative, I'll forgive you. :-)
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