On a tragic day in Brookline, Massachusetts, 38-year-old Leanne Nichols, a White/Caucasian female, lost her life in a violent attack on December 30, 1994. Nichols was working as a receptionist at the Preterm Health Services clinic when a gunman entered and opened fire. The assailant, John C. Salvi III, first targeted a Planned Parenthood clinic in the area, where he killed 25-year-old receptionist Shannon Lowney and wounded three others.
Salvi then drove approximately two miles to the
Preterm Health Services office. Upon entering, he asked Nichols to confirm he was at Preterm. After she responded affirmatively, Salvi shot her at point-blank range with a hunting rifle. He continued firing, injuring a security guard and another employee before fleeing the scene. Nichols was shot at least five times and later died from her wounds.
The investigation quickly pointed to John Salvi as the suspect. A duffle bag he dropped at the second clinic contained a gun, ammunition, and a receipt from a gun dealer. Salvi, a 22-year-old hairdresser apprentice, was known for his extreme anti-abortion views and had previously participated in protests at one of the clinics.
The day after the shootings, Salvi was apprehended in Norfolk, Virginia, after he fired shots at another clinic there. During his trial, Salvi's defense argued that he was suffering from schizophrenia, but the court found him competent to stand trial. In early 1996, a jury convicted him of two counts of murder and five counts of armed assault with intent to murder. John Salvi was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He later died by suicide while incarcerated.
