Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 31, 1994 TAG: 9501030041
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BROOKLINE, MASS. LENGTH: Medium
State police helicopters hovered low over suburban Boston, and hours after the attack, officers using dogs continued to search for a suspect, who witnesses said may have been wounded in a gunbattle with a clinic guard.
Witnesses at both scenes gave similar descriptions of the gunman, and police issued a description of a single suspect. But they stopped short of saying the same man was responsible for both attacks.
``He just started shooting and shooting and shooting,'' said Debbie Gains, who had accompanied a friend to Preterm Health Services. ``He was very angry.''
The victims were identified as Shannon Lowney, 25, of Arlington; and Leanne Nichols, 38, of Salem, N.H. Each was a receptionist at one of the clinics. The wounded all were clinic employees or volunteers.
The slayings brought to five the number of people killed in shootings at abortion clinics since 1993.
Friday's bloodshed began at a Planned Parenthood clinic on Beacon Street and spread to Preterm Health Services, a mile away, about 10 minutes later.
Police said they were looking for a 5-foot-7 white man with a dark complexion, curly dark hair and black jacket and pants.
Natalya Kabanovsky, an electrolysis technician in Preterm's building, said a man fitting the description had protested abortion over the past several months.
``He was anxious. He wanted to tell everybody what happens here,'' she said.
Lowney was a receptionist at the Planned Parenthood clinic.
``She was a wonderful young woman - bright, personable and committed and what every person would want in a daughter,'' said Susan Newsom, vice president of Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts.
She said Lowney recently had returned from a one-year leave of absence.
The Planned Parenthood clinic was participating in a nationwide trial of the French abortion pill RU-486. Workers have received death threats at the clinic lately. Friday began with the usual gathering of protesters outside the center, where about 3,000 abortions are performed annually, said Nicki Gamble, president of Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts.
Boston Mayor Tom Menino ordered police to guard all clinics and hospitals in the city. Gov. William F. Weld promised state police protection to clinics.
Workers at Planned Parenthood said the clinic's door is locked and operated on a buzzer system. It was unclear how the gunman got in.
In Washington, Attorney General Janet Reno called the attacks ``a senseless, horrible tragedy,'' and said the Justice Department's criminal division, U.S. marshals, the FBI and the federal clinic-violence task force were investigating.
``Anyone in the war zone has to expect to be part of the war that's going on,'' said the Rev. David C. Trosch, in Mobile, Ala. Trosch, a Roman Catholic priest, was suspended for advocating the killing of abortion doctors as justifiable homicide.
However, the Rev. Flip Benham, director of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue National, based in Dallas, condemned the attacks.
``An eye for an eye, it doesn't work that way,'' he said. ``Vigilantism invariably brings with it lawlessness. One never has the right to take upon himself the roles of judge, jury and executioner.''
The National Abortion Federation and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, supported by an anonymous donor, offered a $100,000 award for information leading to the conviction of anyone involved in the slayings.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB