John Salvi

John C. Salvi III (March 2, 1972 – November 29, 1996) was an American Catholic who carried out fatal shootings at two reproductive health clinics in Brookline, Massachusetts, on December 30, 1994, killing two and wounding five. The motive for these attacks was his opposition to abortion. He was convicted, and later died in 1996 of an apparent suicide.

In the mid-morning of December 30, 1994, John Salvi walked into the Planned Parenthood clinic on Beacon Street in Brookline, Massachusetts, carrying a black duffle bag. In the waiting room, he took a modified semiautomatic .22 rifle from the bag and wordlessly opened fire. A clinic assistant, Arjana Agrawal, was hit in the abdomen. Salvi then shot the receptionist who had greeted him, Shannon Lowney, in the neck, killing her instantly. Approximately forty people were in the room during the assault; of these, three were wounded.

Salvi left Planned Parenthood, and drove west on Beacon Street to the Preterm Health Services office. He asked receptionist Leeann Nichols, "Is this Preterm?" When she said yes, witnesses report that Salvi responded,"This is what you get! You should pray the rosary!" before he shot her multiple times. As he had at Planned Parenthood, Salvi continued to fire. Among those injured was part-time security guard, Richard J. Seron. Seron returned fire while protecting injured clinic worker Jane Sauer, who had been hit and was on the floor. Seron himself was shot four times in the arms, and once in the left hand. Salvi then dropped the black duffle bag, which contained a gun, receipts from a gun dealer in New Hampshire, and 700 rounds of ammunition. He fled in his Audi. Police were able to identify him from the gun shop receipt in the abandoned bag.

John Salvi was captured in Norfolk, Virginia, after firing over a dozen bullets into the Hillcrest Clinic. The clinic was not open at the time.

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.

Salvi had long shown signs of mental illness. Despite erratic outbursts, difficulty living alone, earlier threats of violence, and the possibility that he was involved in an arson in Florida, neither the anti-abortion protestors who saw Salvi become distraught at their vigils, nor his family who had witnessed glaring signs of his illness, took steps to prevent Salvi from hurting himself or others. Although Salvi's parents were concerned that he was troubled, they did not seek professional psychiatric assistance with their son, as they thought that the stigma of mental illness could impair Salvi's ability to live on his own.

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