FILE-Police tape seals off a stretch of road after a crime scene. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A father of three who was scheduled to get married later this month was fatally shot after confronting a man he saw spray-painting graffiti on a bridge in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, police said.
Kevin Doherty, 56, took pictures of 26-year-old Snehal Srivastava allegedly defacing the ground and got into an argument with him shortly before 9 a.m. on Aug. 28, according to a report by Fox 25 Boston, citing court records.
The dispute escalated into a physical altercation, according to police.
Doherty, who was walking home after dropping his 6-year-old son off at school, called 911 during the struggle. Dispatchers reported hearing multiple gunshots and then Doherty telling them he’d been shot before the line went silent, police said. Doherty was rushed to UMass Medical Center, where he later died.
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Srivastava, who did not have a license to carry a firearm, was arraigned on one count of armed assault to murder and two counts of carrying a firearm without a license. Prosecutors later upgraded the charges to murder. He was held without bail.
Shrewsbury Police, with help from Massachusetts State Police, said it used drone technology to locate Srivastava hiding in a nearby residence on Edgewater Avenue the following day.
SWAT team members with a K-9 were seen entering the house, which was covered in graffiti with the words “Ganga Gardens,” “Free Palestine,” “Free Congo,” “BLM” and “GLM” painted on its exterior walls, according to WCVB.
Sarah Schofield, Doherty’s fiancée, released a statement expressing her distress at her partner’s passing.
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“The saying is true, there are no words that can fully capture the overwhelming pain and grief that we are experiencing,” Schofield wrote, per Boston.com
“No one should ever endure the trauma of canceling wedding arrangements only to make funeral ones. This loss, and the fractures it created, are so severe it makes healing seem impossible.”
“He was funny and he was kind. He truly woke up each morning with a smile on his face,” she added.
According to his obituary, Doherty was an avid music lover, a passionate golfer, and an enthusiastic hockey fan. His funeral mass took place on Saturday.
The day after the shooting, Shrewsbury Police Chief Kevin Anderson issued a statement calling the killing at Jordan Pond a “senseless act of violence” and extending condolences to the victim’s family.
“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family and loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time,” Anderson said. “No words can ease the pain of such a sudden and devastating loss, but please know that our entire department stands with the family and the community in mourning.”
Srivastava has a history of violent arrests dating back to 2015, according to Boston 25 News.
That includes a disturbing attack in a Regal Cinema parking lot in 2022 involving a man who says he was attacked at random by the same suspect who was brandishing a machete. The case was dismissed in July with court paperwork citing “failure to prosecute,” the outlet reported.
Victim Nitish Sharma told Boston 25 about what he allegedly endured.
“He started circling my car, made seven laps around my car. I had no idea who it was. I stepped out of the car. He tried running me over,” Sharma said. “He swung at me, and I grabbed the blade. He was swinging at my face, and I said I don’t know you.”
