Elevator victim found ‘trapped in doorway’ of Boston lift
The Boston University French lecturer killed in an elevator accident was “trapped in the doorway” of the lift, her mattress and “futon-type frame” found at the scene, police report.
The victim, Carrie O’Connor, 38, was pronounced dead at the scene after being crushed by the elevator, according to an incident report of Monday’s tragedy.
Police report they responded to the 1140 Commonwealth Avenue apartment complex at 5:15 p.m. Monday for a report of a person “trapped under an elevator.”
The incident report, provided to the Herald following a Public Records request, stated police “declared victim, Carrie O’Connor, deceased at the scene.” The Medical Examiners’ Office was then given jurisdiction.
The Suffolk District Attorney’s Office is investigating.
“The victim’s mattress and frame were also removed from the scene and held in the garage of District D-14 … as evidence,” the police report adds.
O’Connor was a French lecturer at BU. She joined the college’s Romance Studies Department just last year, after having taught at a handful of colleges including Bentley University, MIT, Northeastern and Tufts University, according to her school profile.
“I am enthusiastic about opportunities to connect students in Romance Studies to French on a personal and practical level. We have such a talented and diverse group of students at BU and I’m excited to join a team of faculty who cares so much about them,” O’Connor wrote in a statement when she joined BU in March 2019, as the Herald reported Tuesday.
A second person was taken to the hospital for treatment, a Boston Public Health Commission spokeswoman said Monday. The police report did not mention any other victim.
Boston police are reviewing surveillance video from the five-story apartment building to learn more about what happened. The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration and the Office of Public Safety and Inspections, which is responsible for elevator inspections, are also investigating.
Her mother, Christal O’Connor, remembered her daughter as a perpetual student in an obituary published by BU Today.
“Once she learned to read when she was just a little one we used to have to bribe her to stop her reading and get outside,” Christal O’Connor told the school.
When her daughter began studying French in middle school, Christal O’Connor said it sparked a lifelong passion for language and travel, telling the school, her mantra was “luggage should never be dusty.”
O’Connor’s colleagues remembered her as an experienced and eager educator.
“She was an intrinsic part of the French section and the department at large,” said Odile Cazenave, a professor of French and chair of romance studies.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/33y8kOs
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