Sox Fan's Family Wants Answers

The family of a college student killed by a pellet fired by police outside Fenway Park will await the results of an internal police review before deciding whether to sue the department, according to the family's lawyer.

"It's a determination that awaits a lot of investigation," attorney Patrick Jones said Monday.

Tuesday's funeral services for Victoria E. Snelgrove, an Emerson College junior and aspiring broadcast journalist, come only three days before what would have been her 22nd birthday.

She was killed last week when she was hit in the eye by a pepper-filled pellet fired by police as they tried to control a raucous crowd after the Red Sox won the American League pennant against the archrival New York Yankees.

Snelgrove was among an estimated 80,000 revelers celebrating in the streets around the ballpark early Thursday morning.

Police began firing the pellets out of compressed-air guns when some in the crowd became unruly, climbing the steel girders under Fenway's left-field wall, setting small fires and throwing bottles at police.

In what police say was a horrible fluke, Snelgrove was hit in the eye socket by one of the pellets. She was pronounced dead hours later at Brigham & Women's Hospital.

Her death prompted questions about whether police overreacted to the mostly college crowd. The department was sharply criticized earlier this year for being under-prepared when riots broke out following the New England Patriots' Super Bowl win. One person was killed and another critically injured when a vehicle plowed into revelers shortly after midnight on Feb. 2.

Police are conducting an internal investigation into last week's shooting, examining, among other things, whether police used excessive force and whether they received proper training in the use of the FN303, a compressed-air gun made by FN Herstal.

The guns were purchased for this summer's Democratic National Convention, when police braced for potential violence by demonstrators, but the protests mostly were subdued and police never used the guns during the convention.

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday, based on two unidentified sources, that one of the four officers who fired the pepper balls was a high-ranking officer, Deputy Superintendent Robert E. Toole. O'Toole had no comment for the newspaper.

The Boston Herald reported that officers involved in Snelgrove's death have been distraught since the death.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley's office will review the results of the police investigation and determine whether the use of force was legal.

Jones would not say whether the Snelgrove family is unhappy that the investigation into her death is being done internally by the police, rather than by an outside group.

"We're really trying to put the brakes on right now and allow the family to bury their daughter and do their grieving," he said.

James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University, said in deadly police shootings where there is a high level of public interest, a civilian review board or another outside group is often called in to investigate.

"Given the public nature of this and the reaction to this case, it may be a wise thing to do, just to ensure public confidence in whatever the findings are," Fox said.

Corey Welford, a spokesman for Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, declined to comment on whether Reilly would consider doing his own investigation.

David Procopio, a spokesman for the DA's office, said the investigation will be conducted as any other investigation into a lethal shooting in which police are involved.

The police department's Firearm Discharge Investigation Team - made up of detectives - will examine the circumstances surrounding the use of force by interviewing witnesses and the officers involved, analyzing forensic and ballistics evidence, and reviewing medical evidence and autopsy results.

The team will then issue a report to Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole (who is not related to Robert O'Toole).

The district attorney's office has assigned Patrick Haggan, an experienced homicide prosecutor, to the Snelgrove case. After the police completes their investigation, the DA's office will review it.

Police and prosecutors will meet with the family to explain the results, which will then be made public. The process is expected to take several months.

"This model has proven to be effective in determining the truth of what happened in previous police-involved shootings, and we have no reason in this case to think the results would be otherwise," Procopio said. "Obviously, if during the course of this investigation, we determine that a difference course is needed, we'll do that. The ultimate goal is to determine the truth and to determine all the facts and circumstances of what happened."

Beverly Ford, a spokeswoman for the police department, said the investigation will look at all the circumstances surrounding Snelgrove's death.

"It's pretty obvious that this was an accident," Ford said. "We need to know why the weapon discharged the way it did, why did it injure her so severely."

By Denise Lavoie