College student dies after being injured following Red Sox game

[Kathy in Cambridge]

A 21-year-old Emerson College student has died as a result of injuries sustained during last night's celebration on Lansdowne Street after the Red Sox defeated the Yankees. Earlier reports said that the student was hit by a "bean-bag" bullet fired by Boston police as they struggled to control the unruly crowds.

The student had been taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital after being injured on Lansdowne Street, where hundreds of fans had gathered to celebrate the Red Sox victory over the Yankees.

Boston police launched an immediate, intense investigation in an effort to determine how she was injured and whether the bullet had been fired by an officer.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/10/21/college_student_dies_after_being_shot_by_bean_bag_bullet_near_fenway_last_night/

[NewYorkerfromMass]

1. boy that's sad

I hope it's not the police's fault.

[Tafiti]

2. I really have never been able to get my mind around this...

Why is it that after a great victory for sports teams, it's practically automatic that a riot will ensue? WTF? It should be a fun celebration, not a fucking riot. That just pisses me off so much.

[GreatScott]

6. Just watch us in St Louis

After the Cardinals win the World Series, we'll show you all how to celebrate!

[progressivebydesign]

8. ALCOHOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is ALWAYS the common denominator in that type of behavior. College party riots, post sports game riots, etc. Large groups of excited or angry people who have consumed large quanities of alcohol. Bad combo. That's why lots of stadiums and events stop serving alcohol toward the end of the event.

[htuttle]

3. "determine...whether the bullet had been fired by an officer"

What -- would someone other than the police have a bean-bag gun? I've never seen one at a gun store...

:eyes:

[petronius]

4. It sounds as though they're not sure how she was hurt

So the first question they have to answer is whether she was hit by a bean-bag or by something else. If it was a crowd control device that hit her then you're right - who else could have fired it? However, I think this is poor writing by the reporter rather than ignorance by the police...

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. Someone did fall from the Green monster

It was reported several people were climbing the outside wall from Landsdowne in celebration. One fell and was taken to hospital.

[Bluebear]

7. RIP Victoria Swellgrave

20 years old of Bridgewater MA. :(

Police is only saying she died "as a result of police action" and the chief of police is meeting with her family.- 5pm news WHDH

[Chico Man]

9. SI.COM article

BOSTON (AP) -- 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 officers were armed with weapons meant to be non-lethal.

During a news conference carried live on local television stations, Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole apologized to Snelgrove's family and said the agency "accepts full responsibility for the death of Victoria Snelgrove.

[sr_pacifica]

10. My impression

First of all, sadness over this young woman's pointless death.

Then, reading the CBS news article on this story, anger over what appears to be overreaction to any sense of disorder. This country is out of control.

[wicket]

11. how horrible :(

:(