THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9501010102
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOSE MARTINEZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Shannon Elizabeth Lowney knew the risks of being a receptionist at an abortion clinic, but relatives said she didn't let the potential danger affect her dedication to women's rights.
Lowney, 25, died Friday at a Planned Parenthood clinic in suburban Brookline when a man walked in, asked her if he was in the right place, then started shooting.
Three other people at the clinic were shot before the man fled up Beacon Street to another clinic and opened fire again. He killed receptionist Leanne Nichols and injured a guard and an office worker at Preterm Health Services.
John C. Salvi III was charged in the rifle attacks. He was arrested Saturday in Norfolk after he allegedly opened fire on a building housing an abortion clinic there, said FBI agent Stephen Morrill in Boston. No one was injured in that shooting.
In Brookline, Lowney's fiance had to be supported by two other men as he walked up to the brownstone building to place flowers on the clinic's steps. The couple was to wed next year.
``She was my whole world,'' a teary-eyed David Keene said later. ``I know Shannon harbors no ill will - even to the man who killed her. She never believed in violence. She could never feel malice toward anyone.''
The Lowneys gathered Friday night at the family's home in Fairfield, Conn., where Shannon Lowney grew up and attended public schools.
She was an accomplished musician, playing piano and French horn, her relatives said. She also devoted her time to protecting the rights of women and children, as well as access to health care for everyone.
``She died doing what she believed in,'' said Liam Lowney, her 22-year-old brother.
``She was committed to - and worked to provide - women the right to choose,'' he said. ``She gave freely of her talents and skills to help others. The world is less for her life to go out.''
Lowney had returned to work at the Planned Parenthood clinic nine months ago after a yearlong leave of absence to work with battered children in Maine.
She graduated magna cum laude from Boston College in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in history and had planned to return to school to earn a master's degree in social work.
Lowney was not deterred in her work by shootings and bombings at other abortion clinics across the country in recent years, her brother said.
``I wouldn't say my sister was terrified, but she was intelligent,'' he said. ``She knew the potential consequences of holding a controversial job. She went to work every day anyway.''
Nichols, 38, was shot five times in the second attack. Her husband, Eddie, could not be reached for comment at the family's home on a pond along a quiet, country road in Salem, N.H.
Nichols died at Beth Israel Hospital less than 30 minutes after the shootings.
The other victims remained hospitalized Saturday.
Anjana Agrawal, a 30-year-old medical assistant from Cambridge who worked at Planned Parenthood, and Brian Murray, a 22-year-old from Hingham who had been waiting for a patient at that clinic, were in serious but stable condition at Beth Israel.
Richard J. Seron, 45, of Quincy, Antonio Hernandez, 32, of Worcester, and Jane Sauer, 29, of Cambridge, were in fair condition at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Seron, a security guard at Preterm, was shot in both shoulders and his right arm and fired back at the gunman, witnesses said. Sauer works in the office at Preterm, where she was shot in the back and pelvis.
Hernandez had been waiting for a patient at Planned Parenthood when he was shot. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Shannon Lowney
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Reeva Meyer of Cambridge, Mass., wipes away tears as she kneels
before a memorial created outside the Preterm Health Services in
Brookline, Mass., Saturday.
KEYWORDS: ABORTION CLINICS ANTI-ABORTION SHOOTING ARREST
MURDER INJURIES by CNB