‘He shot me:’ Details of Shrewsbury graffiti shooting revealed in court
A Shrewsbury person was charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a man following an altercation on Thursday .
Snehal A. Srivastava, 26, was charged with one count of armed assault to murder and two counts of carrying a firearm without a license.
During their arraignment at Westborough District Court on Friday, Judge Jennifer Stark entered a not guilty plea on their behalf and ordered that Srivastava, who was not in the courtroom, be held without bail. Srivastava is scheduled to appear at a detention hearing on Sept. 12.
Srivastava's defense attorney, Laurel Singer, told Stark she is still determining her client's gender identification. The police report referred to Srivastava with he/him pronouns, Singer told Stark, however, more information is needed to determine Srivastava's proper gender identity.
At around 8:47 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28, Shrewsbury police received two 911 calls about a shooting in the area of 72 Edgewater Ave. near Jordan Pond in Shrewsbury, according to a police report. At that same time, the caller, Kevin Doherty, 56, told the police dispatcher he was being attacked before he was shot several times.
"He shot me," Doherty was heard telling the dispatcher on the open 911 line. Dispatchers were unable to speak with him further, police said.
Officers arrived to find Doherty and he was taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, where he was pronounced dead, police said in their report.
A witness told investigators he was near Jordan Pond when he saw Doherty and Srivastava arguing over a scooter, police said. The witness then saw Srivastava pull out a gun and shoot Doherty several times before Srivastava ran off.
As officers investigated, Doherty's phone was found near the shooting site, police said. The witness told police that Doherty appeared to be recording or photographing Srivastava before the shooting.
Investigators found two pictures taken one minute before Doherty called 911, police said. The first showed the scooter and the second showed a person in a gray, hooded sweatshirt, green sweatpants, Nike Air Max-style sneakers, large hoop-style earrings and a purple bandana over the top of their head.
Officers identified the person as Srivastava, someone Shrewsbury police are familiar with "through extensive history dating back to 2015," police wrote.
Two days before, officers responded to a call regarding Srivastava, who wore the same earrings and clothing, police said. The day before the shooting, police also responded to a call about graffiti painted on the Jordan Pond trail, where "COOLIDGE STREET CRIPS" was painted on the ground.
Police arrived at Srivastava's home in Shrewsbury and arrested them, the police report stated. They were wearing the same clothes seen in Doherty's photos.
When officers arrested Srivastava, they also found graffiti on the home's exterior that also showed graffiti referencing Crip affiliation, police said.
Doherty had just walked his 6-year-old child to a school nearby when he confronted Srivastava, Shrewsbury Police Chief Kevin Anderson said during a press conference on Thursday .
The shooting prompted Calvin Coolidge Elementary School to go on lockdown. Shrewsbury Select Board member Beth Casavant told The Shrewsbury Post that the shooting was not otherwise connected to the school.
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