Witnesses Describe Abortion Clinic Killings

Clinic worker Anjana Agrawal fought back tears Thursday as she described how John C. Salvi III began a deadly rampage by shooting receptionist Shannon Lowney twice in the neck - and then shot Agrawal.

Salvi, 23, of Hampton, N.H., is charged with murdering two receptionists and wounding five others in attacks on two abortion clinics on Dec. 30, 1994. His attorneys admit that he did it and are planning an insanity defense.

“A rifle was pointed in the window,” said Agrawal, the first witness to testify in Salvi’s murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court. “He pointed it directly at Shannon, aimed and fired. After he shot her, he moved the gun toward me and he put two bullets in my right side.”

Lowney, 25, with blood pouring from wounds in her neck, struggled to her feet and tried to communicate with co-workers in the Planned Parenthood clinic before collapsing to the floor, where she died.

Prosecutor John Kivlan said Salvi then turned his weapon on Agrawal and stunned visitors sitting in the waiting room.

Agrawal said one of the bullets fired from Salvi’s .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle remains lodged behind her heart.

Three of the witnesses who testified Thursday were shot by Salvi.

Salvi, 23, sat expressionless throughout the testimony.