Girl dies from less than lethal weapon.

[Pickle]

I think everyone ought to sit back and see what the investigation
turns up.

[LudavicoSoldier]

This just keeps getting worse and worse. Turns out that the Deputy Superintendant (O'Toole) grabbed a FN303, and though he was untrained, fired into the crowds. Only one officer who fired his weapon was actually trained to use it. Poor judgement at the very least!

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/10/27/2_shooters_said_to_be_untrained/

[ghideon]

Which (hopefully) means a few things:

The girl's parents are going to sue, and most likely win (I believe they should win).

The Deputy Supt. will get canned (rightfully so).

The BPD will prolly have to replace their FN303s with something either A) less effective, or B) more dangerous. Which sucks.

Training was obviously the key issue, and it was lacking. I may not have used a 303, but I can only cringe at the thought of shooting someone in the head with it. Just makes common sense to me, but I'm a paintballer.

[rkjunior303]

Training was obviously the key issue, and it was lacking. I may not have used a 303, but I can only cringe at the thought of shooting someone in the head with it. Just makes common sense to me, but I'm a paintballer.

i'm sure the head shots were unintentional but they should have been trained in the actual danger of what a head impact could do to someone.

[ghideon]

i'm sure the head shots were unintentional but they should have been trained in the actual danger of what a head impact could do to someone.

I too am fairly certain the headshots were unintentional (or at least I hope so).

You and I may have not trained with the FN303, but we can both imagine what a .68 caliber projectile, weighing 3 times as much as a paintball and traveling at 300-315FPS will do to someone's unprotected head. From the article, the cops who didn't have the training and were using prolly assumed it was just a regular paintball or something.

[rkjunior303]

I too am fairly certain the headshots were unintentional (or at least I hope so).

You and I may have not trained with the FN303, but we can both imagine what a .68 caliber projectile, weighing 3 times as much as a paintball and traveling at 300-315FPS will do to someone's unprotected head. From the article, the cops who didn't have the training and were using prolly assumed it was just a regular paintball or something.

i agree.. no one in their normal mindset would have any idea of the actual rounds the thing fires.. Heck, we only know because we are 'close' to AGD.

[bubbleman441]

Yea, my dad's a firearms instructor and I they used Tippman Carbines. I asked my dad to get some pepperballs for my mag to have fun with ...but they're like $2 a piece!!!

[frop]

Holy thread revival!!

[Pickle]

Although I found this on line at the Boston Herald it is actually an AP piece

Cop who fired fatal projectile finally named
By Franci Richardson
Saturday, November 13, 2004

An eight-year Boston police veteran who is a certified instructor in the use of a ``less-lethal'' pepper-spray gun was the cop who mistakenly fired the shot that killed a 21-year-old Emerson College student after rowdy Red Sox fans turned violent, officials said.

Nearly a month after the disastrous death of Victoria Snelgrove, Boston police identified officer Rochefort Milien, 48, as the man who fired the shot that struck the young woman Oct. 21 as she stood on Lansdowne Street.

``Victoria Snelgrove was not targeted,'' read a statement issued by Boston police last night. ``She was struck when the projectile missed its intended target.''

Milien, according to the statement, fired the FN303 pellet gun into the crowd from a distance of 25 to 35 feet. Snelgrove, who had been waiting for the mob to clear so she and friends could get into her blocked car, was fatally struck in the eye by the pellet.

Deputy Superintendent Robert O'Toole, the commander in charge of trying to create order from the chaos that ensued after the Red Sox clinched the American League pennant that night, ordered officers to use the FN303 guns.

O'Toole, officer Samil Silta and Milien all fired the guns and injured at least three other people in the crowd.

The Herald has reported O'Toole had been trained in the use of the weapon, according to his lawyer. O'Toole, Silta and Milien have repeatedly declined to be interviewed by the Herald.

The statement issued by Boston police described a late-night crowd that gathered in Kenmore Square as ``although initially celebratory,'' it turned quickly to ``increasingly disruptive and violent.''

Members of the crowd first surrounded one car as it turned down Lansdowne Street. They then attempted to flip over another car - with the occupants inside - smashing its windshield and caving in the roof, as it tried to turn the wrong way.

O'Toole deployed the Mounted Unit, accompanied by a squad of foot officers from the Mobile Field Force, to rescue the car's occupants.

But soon after the passengers were safe, the crowd turned on the mounted unit, throwing coins, burning paper, bottles and debris at the officers and animals.

``The tail of one horse was burned when flaming debris was thrown at it,'' the statement read.

The accident is being investigated by a panel led by former U.S. Attorney Donald Stern, Boston police and the Suffolk District Attorney's Office.

Party on!