30 december 1994--two dead, five wounded at planned parenthood clinics brookline MA
John C. Salvi III (March 2, 1972 – November 29, 1996) was an abortion opponent who carried out fatal shootings at two Planned Parenthood reproductive health clinics in Brookline, Massachusetts, on December 30, 1994, killing two and wounding five. These were the subject of intense media coverage. He was convicted, and later died in 1996 of an apparent suicide.
On December 30, 1994, John Salvi walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic in Brookline, Massachusetts. He shot and killed receptionist Shannon Lowney. In the second attack security guard Richard Seron returned fire. Salvi then dropped a bag containing a second gun and 700 rounds of ammunition and fled. Police were able to identify him from a gun shop receipt in the abandoned bag.[1]
John Salvi was captured in Norfolk, Virginia, after another Planned Parenthood shooting. On March 19, 1996, he was found guilty of murdering receptionists Lee Ann Nichols and Shannon Lowney. After an unsuccessful defense strategy related to Salvi's mental state, he was convicted in both killings.
The shooting at the Hillcrest clinic, in Norfolk Virginia, was also a clinic picketed by Donald Spitz, a known supporter of anti-abortion terrorism. It was reported by the Boston Globe that Salvi had Spitz's name and unlisted phone number on his person at the time of his arrest.[2][3] Spitz was never charged in connection with Salvi's activities. Spitz held a rally in support of Salvi outside of Norfolk City Jail.[4] Because of Spitz's support of Salvi, Spitz was told he was not welcome in Massachusetts.[5]
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Salvi
Remembering John Salvi and the Brookline Clinic Shootings
By Frederick Clarkson, on January 15, 2014
John Salvi III
As the United States Supreme Court reviews Buffer Zone laws around healthcare clinics today, let’s take a moment to remember one of the worst moments in the fight for women’s reproductive autonomy.
On December 30, 1994, I was working late at Planned Parenthood Federation of America in New York as part of a unit investigating, among other things, the violent, criminal element of the anti-abortion movement. That’s when I got the news that there had been a mass shooting at one of our clinics. A man had walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic in Brookline, Massachusetts, and killed receptionist Shannon Lowney and wounding three other clinic workers with a 22 caliber rifle. He then went to another nearby clinic, Pre-term Health Services, killing receptionist Lee Ann Nichols and wounding two other clinic workers. He had apparently been prepared to do much more because he dropped a second gun and 700 rounds of ammunition in his flight after a security guard returned fire at PreTerm.
It was the worst episode in a time of fierce anti-abortion violence in the U.S. and Canada, including a series of murders and attempted murders, hundreds of assaults, bombings and arsons, hundreds of bomb threats, and more. The previous year, federal agents had unearthed the Army of God Manual — a field guide to how to do arsons, bombings, chemical attacks, and clinic invasions.
Police soon identified the shooter as John Salvi III, who was captured a few days later while firing at the Hillcrest clinic in Norfolk, VA. When he was captured, he had the name and unlisted phone number of Donald Spitz, a local anti-abortion activist who was also the spokesman for the underground Army of God. (Many of those who have been convicted of violent crimes related to abortion were, and remain, publicly associated with the Army of God. Salvi was later convicted of the murders and committed suicide while in prison. Salvi is still celebrated as a Hero of the Faith on the Army of God web site.
- See more at: http://www.politicalresearch.org/2014/01/15/remembering-john-salvi-and-the-brookline-clinic-shootings/#sthash.95WTZ1ni.dpuf
Brookline Clinic Shootings: December 30, 1994
Posted on December 30, 2014 by Rachel Port
BROOKLINE, MASS., DEC. 30 — A gunman dressed in black opened fire with a rifle at two abortion clinics here this morning, killing two female staff workers and wounding at least five other people.
This matter-of-fact sentence was the opening of a Washington Post story on December 31, 1994. Today marks the 20th anniversary of these shootings at the Planned Parenthood and Preterm Health Services clinics in Brookline, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston.
The Brookline shootings are generally considered the third in a series of assassinations by anti-abortion activists and followers, beginning with the murder of Dr. David Gunn in Pensacola, Florida, in March 1993. A history of acts of violence compiled by NARAL frames Dr. Gunn’s killing as a turning point, while recognizing that violent acts were happening all through the 20 years since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.
I was living in Massachusetts in 1994; my life, however, was such that I did not have much time or energy for the news. I have a friend who lived in Brookline at the time; I asked for her memories of the shooting. She sent me this:
My 7-year-old daughter and I were coming home to our apartment in Brookline on the trolley to Cleveland Circle when we saw the police swarmed around the brownstone that the [Planned Parenthood] clinic was in. I had a friend who worked there part time, so I was very worried. I wanted to join the crowd of people behind the police line to find out what happened, but my daughter’s safety was first on my mind.
We hurried home from the trolley stop to call my friend — no cell phones in those days — and there was no answer. (I left a message on her answering machine.) What does no answer mean? I turned on the TV and was glued to it for any news. When I finally got through to her later that night, it turned out she had had the day off but had gone, as soon as she heard, to the hospital where several of the staff had been taken. She was good friends with the receptionist that was killed.
The clinic was a very welcoming, compassionate environment for all kinds of reproductive care on a decidedly sliding scale. It was well known to the feminist women’s health community in Boston.
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http://advocatesaz.org/2014/12/30/brookline-clinic-shootings-december-30-1994/
http://articles.latimes.com/1994-12-31/news/mn-14945_1_abortion-clinic
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/31/us/anti-abortion-killings-overview-gunman-kills-2-abortion-clinics-boston-suburb.html
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