Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 2, 1995 TAG: 9501030108
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
``Thank you for what you did,'' Donald Spitz, director of Pro-Life Virginia, shouted into a hand-held megaphone outside the Norfolk jail where John C. Salvi III is being held without bond. ``We want to help you any way we can.''
Spitz and seven other abortion opponents turned out for the vigil, carrying signs showing pictures of aborted fetuses and messages such as ``John Salvi - Prisoner of War.''
However, not all of them were in agreement on whether the deeds that Salvi is accused of were justified.
The victims in the Massachusetts shootings ``were advocates and accessories to murder,'' Spitz said. ``Why is the life of a receptionist worth more than the lives of 50 innocent human babies?''
But David Crane, director of a Norfolk-area anti-abortion group, Citizens for Justice, said there are nonviolent ways to fight abortion. ``This is another wake-up call for people to get active through peaceful means,'' he said.
Salvi, 22, is to be arraigned Tuesday on a charge of firing into an occupied building that houses Norfolk's Hillcrest Clinic. He does not yet have an attorney, said Larry Hill, a Norfolk police spokesman. Salvi, a student hairdresser from Hampton, N.H., was arrested Saturday near the clinic, Norfolk's only abortion facility, after a man fired more than 20 rounds into the building.
Some of the shots fired from the parking lot behind the structure went through two sets of windows and out the front of the building, narrowly missing about a half-dozen abortion opponents who were picketing along the street. None of the shots entered the clinic on the building's second floor.
A woman who attended the vigil and identified herself only as Joan said she has picketed outside the clinic and understands the risks, although she was not there Saturday.
``We've been saying for a long time that it's a war,'' Joan said. ``There's going to be casualties on both sides.''
Hill said authorities still were checking on when Salvi came to Virginia and why Hillcrest was targeted. Salvi has no known Norfolk connections, he said. Hillcrest, however, has been a focus of anti-abortion activity since it opened in October 1973, nine months after the Supreme Court legalized abortion.
Norfolk jail officials declined Sunday to disclose anything about Salvi other than the charges he will face at the hearing Tuesday in Norfolk General District Court. It was uncertain whether he had any visitors.
Spitz said he was denied permission to meet with Salvi. He said he would be willing to help hire an attorney for Salvi if asked.
Hillcrest was open at the time of the shooting about noon Saturday. It was closed Sunday for the holiday.
According to police, a fire investigator who was looking into an arson case at a nearby automatic bank teller machine heard gunfire and saw a man shooting into the building with a .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle.
The investigator, Ken Harlan, followed the gunman as he got into a pickup and drove off. By radio, Harlan alerted police, who arrested Salvi about three blocks away.
Hill said Harlan carries a 9mm handgun and is a sworn law enforcement officer but decided against risking a showdown along the busy street before police backup arrived.
Harlan has an unlisted telephone number. Messages left for him at the Norfolk Fire and Paramedical Services office Sunday were not returned.
Hill said federal authorities were assisting Norfolk and Massachusetts police with the investigation but had not taken charge of the case. Two Massachusetts detectives interviewed Salvi Saturday, along with Norfolk police and the FBI.
The Norfolk FBI office referred calls Sunday to city police.
It was unclear when Salvi might be returned to Massachusetts, where he faces two murder charges and five attempted murder charges involving shootings Friday at two Brookline, Mass., abortion clinics.
U.S. Attorney Donald Stern in Boston said Salvi will appear before a federal magistrate in Norfolk this week on a charge of flight to avoid prosecution.
by CNB