BOSTON (AP) – Five police officers face internal disciplinary action for their involvement in the fatal shooting of a college student during last fall’s chaotic Red Sox celebrations, Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole said Wednesday.

Her announcement came on the same day an independent commission reported that police made a series of mistakes leading up to the Oct. 21 death of 21-year-old Victoria Snelgrove, a broadcast journalism student at Emerson College.

Snelgrove died hours after she was hit in the eye socket with a pepper-spray pellet outside Fenway Park during raucous celebrations when Boston eliminated the New York Yankees from the American League playoffs. The city paid her family a $5.1 million settlement earlier this month, avoiding a wrongful death lawsuit.

The officers facing internal charges are Superintendent James Claiborne, Deputy Superintendent Robert O’Toole, and officers Rochefort Milien, Samil Silta and Thomas Gallagher.

Commissioner O’Toole, who is not related to Robert O’Toole, did not specify the charges but said they generally involve excessive use of force and poor judgment. The most severe disciplinary action is termination, and least is oral reprimand. She said each officer involved was “deeply distressed” by what happened.

Claiborne was in charge of security that night, and Robert O’Toole, now retired, was the senior commander on the scene of Snelgrove’s shooting on Lansdowne Street, outside Fenway Park. It was unclear what sanctions he could face in the disciplinary proceedings.

Milien fired the shot that killed Snelgrove. Silta fired pepper pellets at fans who’d climbed the girders behind Fenway’s left-field wall, while Gallagher was in charge of the equipment truck that contained the pellet guns.

As tens of thousands of people flooded Lansdowne Street, O’Toole handed a pellet gun to Milien, who was certified to use it, and told him “use it as needed,” said the report from the independent commission, headed by former U.S. Attorney Donald Stern.

O’Toole gave a pellet gun to Silta, who wasn’t certified, and instructed him “take this and use this if you have to,” the report said, adding that O’Toole, also uncertified, was firing from the hip.

Stern’s commission found that police made mistakes at every turn – starting with the department’s decision to buy pepper-pellet guns for crowd control, and ending with Milien’s decision to fire into the crowd.

Police assigned to keep order on Lansdowne Street were inadequately trained and planning was poor, according to the findings released Wednesday.

“On Lansdowne Street, almost everything went wrong.” Stern said.

Milien fired twice at a person in the crowd who was throwing bottles at police. That person was “ducking in and out of a crowd” and Milien should not have fired on him, Stern said.

“Officer Milien failed to take sufficiently into account that he was shooting at a moving target in the midst of a crowd and that a missed shot could easily strike a bystander,” the report said.

Milien told investigators that he was “trying to … concentrate on the target,” who was crouching behind others and throwing objects.

But the bad decisions that led to Snelgrove’s death began months earlier, the Stern commission said, starting with the purchase of the air-powered pellet guns in early 2004. Police officials did little research beforehand, then failed to properly train officers in how to use them, and under what conditions.

“(Milien) had little guidance as to how such weapons were to be used that night, and had earlier observed the most senior commander on the scene, Deputy Superintendent Robert O’Toole, repeatedly firing … indiscriminately,” the report said.

Robert O’Toole was not trained to use the pepper-pellet guns, yet he also fired one into the crowd. By doing so, he “created confusion in the field and undermined the chain of command,” the report said. He retired from the force earlier this month, on the same day the settlement with Snelgrove’s family was announced.

Police also didn’t secure a parking garage on Lansdowne Street, and when motorists tried to exit they were blocked by the rioting crowd and had to be rescued by police, diverting the officers’ attention.

Stern said Commissioner O’Toole, “as head of the department, ultimately… bears some responsibility,” but credited her for giving his commission unfiltered access.

No disciplinary action will be taken against the commissioner, said Mayor Thomas Menino’s spokesman, Seth Gitell.

“Mayor Menino remains confident in and supportive of Commissioner O’Toole,” Gitell said.

Stern’s commission also called for a national study on the effectiveness and safety of the FN303 pepper-pellet guns, manufactured by FN Herstal S.A. and sold in the U.S. by FNH USA, Inc., based in McLean, Va. A spokesman did not immediately return a call to comment.

The report said the officers “did not appear to appreciate that a person could be seriously injured or killed.”

Two other revelers were struck in the head by pellets that night.

“The outcomes here – three shots to the head, one resulting in death and two resulting in penetration – seem inconsistent with the manufactures’ representations that the projectiles will not penetrate the skin,” the report said.

Thomas Nee, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, did not immediately return a call to comment.

The Snelgrove family issued a statement through its attorney, saying the findings “are broadly consistent with conclusions reached by the family’s legal counsel and investigative team.” The statement said the family would have no other comment.

AP-ES-05-25-05 1753EDT