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Allston party turns fatal
By adamg on Sat, 11/17/2007 - 11:38am
Boston Police report they are investigating the death of a man who fell off the roof of a condo building early this morning, apparently after a fight broke out at a party.
Police say Shawn Dow, 21, fell to his death shortly before 2:30 a.m. at 14 Glenville Ave. (just off Harvard Avenue):
Preliminary investigation revealed that a fight had broken out during a party. It is believed that the victim died as a result of falling from the roof of that building. The cause of the fall is under investigation at this time. Homicide detectives conducted numerous interviews throughout the night with partygoers in an effort to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident.
Photo from Dow's Facebook page.
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Comments
This was bound to happen
This was bound to happen eventually. This is what happens when a city is forced into the role of babysitter.
Thats my cousin
No you idiot thats what happens when kids wont leave a party when they get fuckin rowdy. He's my first cousin and will be sorely missed. The nicest, soft-spoken kid ever and guess what he's fuckin dead. I can't blame it on the city its those fuckins stupid kids fault that started shit and clearly the whole situation ended in tragedy... Love you Shawn Dow and I miss you!
My condolences
That is just awful.
The Globe has more details, says the fight (which sounded pretty awful all by itself) was not connected to his accident.
Yeah I saw that Globe
Yeah I saw that Globe article, but if it's as simple as a fall from a building, why were there footprints all over his chest?
Another account
See this account (second hand) from an EMT. The location isn't specified, but how many other fatal party fights were there last night?
Yeah I saw that.... that's
Yeah I saw that.... that's where I got the info on the foot stomps. I guess I just assumed they were one in the same.
This still all seems so
This still all seems so unreal. I am sorry for your loss. You and the rest of your family are in my thoughts and prayers. When I met Shawn through some of my other friends, I instantly thought wow, what a sweet, kind-hearted, genuinely good person. He is greatly missed and will live on in our hearts and memories...R.I.P. We all love and miss you Dow!
now who feels like a dick
now who feels like a dick for jumping on the people in the fight now that the police said he fell off the roof like an idiot now try again to blame others
3 sides to a story and the truth
There are 3 sides to every story - yours - theirs - perceptions - and the TRUTH!!!! Jump on the people in the fight - your not in the clear yet! Oh yeah blame should be on the trouble makers - people do not just fall off the roof and land on their back! Maybe you need to read between the lines of this BPD Citizens Alert!
Boston Police "Citizens Alert" 11/20/07: "On Nov. 17th 2007 the Boston Police responded to a large fight at 14 Glenville Avenue where a party was being held and found a male lying on the asphalt in the rear alley of 14 Glenville Ave. Autopsy reports indicate that this male sustained injuries consistent with falling off the roof. Anyone with any information relative to this incident is advised to call the Boston Police @ 617-343-4256 and speak to the Detectives."
Boston Police are looking for tips in the investigation: Crime Stoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS where anonymous tips can be placed.
read between your own lines
You wern't there you don't know what happened ok and you think in any way the police are good at what they do my friend got murdered in cold blood over 7 bucks and its been a year they have a discription with tattoos scars and make of car and still knowones in jail these cops are incompitant intsead of blaming people fighting look at the people that gave him accsess to the roof THE ONLY WAY OTHER THEN THE ALLEY IS THROUGH THE APTS IN THE BUILDING THE PEOPLE FIGHTING NEVER MADE IT INTO AN APT
Signed
lifes a bitch help the situation not instigate it
Way to be insensitive there.
Way to be insensitive there. Sounds like this kid was a good person who got caught up in something at the wrong time. He was 21, not drinking underage. Lord knows I've been to parties before and I would think you have too.
You misunderstood me
I wasn't trying to paint every single party-goer in the city with the sam brush, much less criticize the victim here, but state that you have an atmosphere where people feel free to cause harm to those who by all accounts, were just trying to enjoy themselves and not get involved in anything.
If you knew "the victum",
If you knew "the victum", you'd think twice about critizing him.
Asshole.
?!?
Seriously, what does a city that's presumably forced into the role of babysitter have to do with this? Imho, it probably happened because the woman didn't call the police to come have the unwanted guests ousted from the party, since they clearly started the fight.
Update from Boston Police
BPD update:
R.I.P DOW!
you were a good friend of my mother and me, and will be missed alot...i'll always remember you, for you were a good friend and have always been there for me and my family i love you Dow Rest In Peace <3 xox kat
Although I know little about this horrible incident,
first of all, although I didn't personally know Dow or any of his family or friends, I wish to express my condolences for his tragic and untimely death.
Secondly, it sounds as if the uninvited guests got the ball rolling by crashing a party where they'd not been invited to, and therefore had no business attending. When people are free to do harm to others, this is what can and does happen.
Update: Police rule out foul play
Strictly an accident, unrelated to the all-out brawl on the floors below, police say.
I stand corrected on this one.
Nonetheless, I still think that the uninvited guests had no business whatsoever crashing the party that they weren't invited to or wanted at, and that the hostess who asked the unwanted guests to leave should've called the cops to come and oust them.
Call the cops?
It is my experience that college students having beer parties are disinclined to call the police to assist with troublemakers, owing no doubt to the quantity of infractions in which they themselves are involved.
Exactly
What would the police do? Arrest all underage people at the party, including those who called the cops to tame the party, that's what. It doesn't matter if uninvited guests invaded with a keg or several cases of beer because the modern "worship me or else" cop can't be bothered to sort these things out.
Taze them all and let God sort them out. Like dealing with Vogons.
I remember
The time in my life when I stopped being someone who had reason to be afraid of the police. The time when I realized that, actually, I no longer broke any laws at all, and had no reason to be concerned. The time when I realized that, by and large, the cops were on my side. And if a gang was bothering me, I didn't need to beat them all up successively or plurally; I could just call friendly Sargeant Yarchak.
Sure, if you're a kid determined to drink, or if you're a pot-smoker, or your immigration papers aren't in order, you probably don't want to call the police. Being in that position makes you very vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by others. It's sad.
But law-abiding adult citizens really don't have to imagine that this continues to be the case for them.
Yes, the cops might be inclined to arrest anybody they happen to see breaking the law right in front of them. It's hard for them to forget that that's their job. And if you've grown up, you probably don't blame them terribly much for doing their job.
If you're still a child who thinks that your illegal behavior is obviously better than everybody else's illegal behavior, and everybody else, including the cops, should just know that, then you've got more than one problem. First, you have a problem of safety, because if thugs come into your house, you're basically at their mercy. And second, you need to grow up.
"Illegal Behavior"
Like, cycling down a street? That's protected by MA law, but the cops sometimes like to say "I'm not a lawyer" and "I am the law" in the same sentence.
Like trying to drive home after a mid-term exam and being told to "settle down Bitch and take a vallium?" like my roommate was in 1986 when there was no public emergency or announcement of street closures?
Like getting together with friends and being told to disperse because more than two people together without a permit is an illegal assembly? I swear that cop pulled that out of HIS ass.
Gareth, I hate to say this to your naive self, but it isn't just about breaking the law. Sometimes, it's about breaking heads and being a bully. Perhaps it is just easier when you don't add the mysogynist tripe as well. It has nothing to do with illegal anything, and much to do with daring to be legally different.
Do you honestly think that had those kids called the cops when too many people showed up with too much drugs, they wouldn't have been arrested too? If so, you are entitled to an additional think.
Swirly,
Yes, there are bad people in the world.
Yes, some cops say mean things sometimes.
Making hysterical lists of every time you've ever felt wronged isn't really going to convince anybody of your reasonableness, let alone your viewpoint.
Yes, I honestly do think that if those kids had called the police about the party-crashers, and if the police came and found other violations such as underage drinking and drug use, that the police would have done their best to enforce the relevant laws. And no, I don't have any problem with that.
I also think that, in the long run, the kids would probably have been better off cooling their heels in the station waiting for their parents rather than smashing bottles and banisters over each others' heads.
As long as the cops continue
As long as the cops continue to be trained by the towns and not held to standards of appropriate training and are protected from consequences of their ignorance and arrogance, this will be a problem.
Just because you never go out and do anything anymore doesn't mean the cops are all just doing their jobs. It just means that you have sufficient appearance of conformity to not attract the bullies.
Hysterical? Really? For future reference, that could be considered to be a slur.
Then again, I guess I deserve to be harassed for being a legally-operating urban cyclist and not being a good little housewife in a hummer, eh? For being a bad girl who goes out at night with out my "biggest risk factor" to control ... er ... protect me? For not being small and demure and submissive? Right. Hysterical, indeed. Just read the massbike list for more details and some statistical surveys of the problems, too. Not just in Boston but in the Commonwealth of Feudal Towns.
Sure, I've met good cops too, but this shouldn't be left to personality. Bad habits should be documented and trained out, and the bad apples should be composted.
Deserving
I'm sure there are things you don't deserve. Being harassed for being a legally-operating urban cyclist is not something you deserve. Being called on your propensity to insult people needlessly and randomly, however, is something you deserve.
At this point, I'm almost ready to believe that cops bother you because you provoke them by calling them names whenever you get the opportunity. That's certainly what you do here.
In a few short paragraphs, you have managed to call me "mysogynist," spouting "tripe," and "naive," and to insult my habits (I never go out and do anything anymore) and my appearance (sufficient appearance of conformity). Hey, would you like to call me fat and bald too? Would that make you happier?
You have also advocated twice for murdering policemen -either tazing them all and letting God sort them out, or "composting them."
So what you deserve and don't deserve? One thing you don't deserve is for me to consider you a reasonable and civil person.
For your information, the best way to get respect from a police officer is to treat him or her with respect. That's what I make a habit of doing, and I find it works well. From the way you talk here, I doubt that's what you do, and even wonder if you are capable of it.
I've met SwirlyGrrl
and she's a fine person who really doesn't deserve what you said above.
Thanks, Ron
I appreciate it - especially when I am being accused of saying things I never even said!
I have a friend who lives
I have a friend who lives there and he was behind a locked door. They did call the police, it just took them over 40 minutes to get there. That's pathetic.
Funeral details
Here.
my condolences..
i wasnt really close with shawn.. we graduated together @ peabody high. but wat i did know of him was he was very polite, down to earth n jus a genuinely nice guy. such a horrible horrible story n so unexpected :'( My condolences go out to his family n friends goin thru this horrible time.
*only the good die young*
If you where there dick you
If you where there dick you would have known the fight never made it past the 2nd floor on the stairs in the front of the building hhhmm food for thought the third floor was blocked off by a bunch of black dudes with bats. so before you blame others for a kid being drunk and unfortunatlly falling to his death in something totally unrelated learn all the facts bitch
For the Anonymous who knows all the facts...
Apparently you were there first hand to see the fight and how there were guys with bats blocking the 3rd floor or whatever.
With maturity, wisdom and having some street smarts you to may learn that there are no concidences in the world!
Shawn's tragedy is no exception! Been drunk many times in my life - done dump things (fights, etc)this is different and if you knew Shawn you would know that there is more to this than an unfortunate accident and the truth will prevail.
If you were there, isn't there two ways to get to the roof???? Front stairs and back stairs???? I was not there but it is my understanding the buddies of the mo-mos that started the fight had friends run up the stairs from the first floor in the front! Maybe some of their other buddies ran up the backstairs onto the roof! Just speculating??? Food for thought hmmmmmmmmm! Maybe your anger comes from fear of others finding out the truth - and we will! Give it time and we will get justice for Shawn!
More food for thought
listen i don't mean to be a disrespetful person but people are going after the wrong people yes the fight was messed up well like you said weve done our dirt yes there are stairs that are in the front but not with access to the roof the only stairs that have access to the roof are through the alley and why would people be chillin in an alley i've seen some crazy shit that night and i do hope "the truth provalles" but its life i've lost friends to murder drugs and stupidity plus the only access to the roof is thought the back stairs or through the apts lifes a bitch and shit happens i would be happy to talk to the police but soon as they see me peoples lies and deflected pain will put me in a bad position and if i did i doubt i'd live for to long people don't want to hide they just want to be able to tell there story without catching hell from a pig that got beat up in high school and i hell bent on a power trip if you have any suggestion speakup and to the cops that read this look closer to the people that acctually live in that building access is only through the apts
Thank you for your honestly... (for More Food for Thought)
Thank you for your honestly and I can respect your decisions regarding speaking up. There is nothing disrespectful in your blog, I respect you for it.
I did find this piece and I hope this helps....
Boston Police "Citizens Alert" 11/20/07: "On Nov. 17th 2007 the Boston Police responded to a large fight at 14 Glenville Avenue where a party was being held and found a male lying on the asphalt in the rear alley of 14 Glenville Ave. Autopsy reports indicate that this male sustained injuries consistent with falling off the roof. Anyone with any information relative to this incident is advised to call the Boston Police @ 617-343-4256 and speak to the Detectives."
BoldedBoston Police are looking for tips in the investigation: Crime Stoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS where anonymous tips can be placed.Bolded