Snelgroves weigh suit against gunmaker.
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May 3–The City of Boston announced yesterday that it will pay the biggest wrongful death settlement in its history, $5 million, to the family of Victoria Snelgrove, the college student killed in October by police trying to control a crowd outside Fenway Park. Under the settlement, the city could recoup up to $2 million if Snelgrove’s family successfully sues the manufacturer of the pepper-pellet gun used by police when she was killed. Using words such as “heart wrenching” and “terrible” to describe the shooting, Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O’Toole announced the agreement, which calls for the city to contribute an additional $100,000 to a scholarship fund and to help the family dedicate a public memorial. O’Toole also disclosed that Deputy Superintendent Robert E. O’Toole Jr., the commander who authorized the use of the FN303 pepper-pellet gun and who fired one himself that night without certification, is retiring from the department. Retiring Deputy Supt. O’Toole says he “did more good than harm.” Snelgrove, a 21-year-old junior from East Bridgewater, was struck in the eye by a pellet police fired into crowds celebrating the Red Sox’s American League championship. A lawyer… |