Death of Victoria Snelgrove

Who is Death of Victoria Snelgrove?

Victoria Snelgrove was a junior majoring in journalism at Emerson College. She had transferred from Fitchburg State College in the fall of 2003. She was hit with a crowd-control round and mortally wounded by Boston police officer Rochefort Milien on October 21, 2004 when she was eight days away from her 22nd birthday. This was about 90 minutes after the Boston Red Sox's victory over the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series.

The incident occurred near Fenway Park when an FN 303 blunt trauma / pepper spray projectile hit her eye, causing her to bleed excessively. Ambulances were blocked by the excessive crowds, which still refused to clear the area, preventing prompt medical attention from arriving from the dense medical area only a half-mile away.

Snelgrove died at 12:50 p.m. EDT at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, about 12 hours after being shot. According to the autopsy, the pellet opened a three-quarter-inch hole in the bone behind the eye, broke into nine pieces, and damaged the right side of her brain.

Boston Police Department Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole placed Rochefort Milien, the police officer who fired the shot that killed Victoria Snelgrove, on paid leave. O'Toole later attended the hour-long funeral on October 26, 2004 at St. John's Catholic church in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts along with Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Gov. Mitt Romney.