Stockpile of weapons confiscated from elderly Leominster man who made gun threat to CVS staff over fumbled insulin prescription

LEOMINSTER — On Oct. 17, 2023, at about 2:54 p.m., Leominster Police Officers Jonathan Benoit, Caulin Salvi, and Sergeant Elvin Vasquez were sent to Martin Magnan’s home at 3 Regan Place to deliver a no trespass order from the CVS on Nelson Street. Magnan had allegedly threatened the pharmacy staff with a gun over the phone earlier that day due to frustrations over delays and errors with his insulin prescription.

(The account and quotations in this article were taken from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Jonathan Benoit and the Supplemental Narrative of Sgt. Vasquez.)

According to Officer Benoit, in addition to the officers, an employee of Aging Services of North Central Massachusetts also responded to the scene.

“I communicated my concerns about Mr. Martin Magnan to the Aging Services worker,” Officer Benoit said. “I was worried that Mr. Magnan would not be able to survive without his insulin and we were attempting to come up with a plan on how he could get it so that way he could eat and not suffer from any form of medical issues from not having any insulin.”

According to court documents, Magnan 77, is a resident of 3 Regan Place, Leominster. He’s single, disabled, and identifies as “cisgender.”

Upon learning from Magnan that he last monitored his blood sugar at 11:00 a.m., Officer Benoit and the Aging Services worker decided to call an ambulance. This decision was made to ensure Magnan’s blood sugar levels could be assessed and, if necessary, to facilitate his transportation to the hospital for insulin treatment.

Officer Benoit reported that while the ambulance was en route, Magnan expressed concern over the cost of the ambulance ride and mentioned his dislike for paramedics, citing previous discussions.

More: Leominster CVS evacuated after gun threat from frustrated patient

“Once the Leominster Fire Department [(LFD) ambulance personnel] arrived on scene, I stepped back and let them work as they attempted to talk to him about his diabetes,” Officer Benoit added. “Mr. Magnan was beginning to get upset with LFD personnel. Mr. Magnan refused medical treatment, and at that time I was also handed some paperwork by Sergeant Vasquez.”

The paperwork Sgt. Vasquez handed to Officer Benoit was for a LTC [License to Carry] suspension that had been issued to Magnan because of the incident earlier in the day at the Nelson Street CVS.
After interacting with ambulance personnel, Magnan returned to his residence and locked the door, leaving police outside while the ambulance left the scene.

Officer Benoit knocked on Magnan’s door and when he saw Magnan through his kitchen window, the officer yelled that he “got rid of the fire department” and could talk to him.

“At that point I was still trying to get him assistance with Aging Services for his insulin as well as issue the license suspension notice,” Officer Benoit explained.

After hearing that the ambulance personnel had left the scene, Magnan opened the door for Officer Benoit.

According to Sgt. Vasquez, Officer Benoit began to talk to Magnan in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, however, when Officer Benoit read the LTC suspension letter to Magnan he became upset.

“Officer Benoit tried to explain to Martin how he could appeal the suspension,” Sgt. Vasquez said. “Martin then attempted to get back into the residence. Officer Benoit reminded him that he needed to turn over his LTC and firearms. Martin stated he would not turn them over, and took a step into the residence.”

When Magnan said he wouldn’t turn his firearms over, Sgt. Vasquez told him that he was under arrest for the original charge from the CVS incident, terroristic threats, as well as obstruction of justice.

“He began to shut the door on us and I was able to place my foot in the doorjamb preventing it,” Officer Benoit said. “I carefully opened the door and stepped through the doorway so as to not knock Mr. Magnan over. I then took hold of Mr. Magnan’s right arm, Officer Salvi took hold of his left arm.”

When the officers took control of his arms, Magnan tensed up and would not put his arms behind his back. When Magnan told the officers that he was physically incapable of putting his arms behind his back, Sgt. Vasquez cleared Officer Benoit to cuff him in the front.

After he was handcuffed, Magnan was pat frisked for weapons and transported to the Leominster Police Station for booking.

That evening, Detective Bouchard secured a search warrant for Magnan’s residence to locate and secure his firearms, license to carry, and ammunition.

After clearing Magnan’s arrest, Officer Benoit returned to Magnan’s residence to assist in serving the search warrant. When Officer Benoit arrived on scene, he was met with Officer Salvi who had remained on scene, and Detective Bouchard.

The officers then searched the property.

Upstairs, they found and confiscated a shotgun, three rifles, and multiple boxes containing ammunition of various sizes, along with casings and bullets.

The specific type of weapons found upstairs are as follows:

• Savage 107 12-gauge shotgun (without a serial number)
• Savage 120 .22 caliber rifle (with a scope and without a serial number)
• Savage 22LR rifle
• Winchester Model 70 (with scope and case). The serial number was blocked by the scope.

Downstairs, in a safe, police located the following four handguns:

• Smith and Wesson .38 revolver (with scope)
• Smith and Wesson .38 revolver
• Smith and Wesson .22 revolver (with scope)
• Jennings J-22 (without a serial number)

Police found Magnan’s LTC in his wallet. Police seized Magnan’s LTC and returned his wallet to him at the station.

Magnan was officially charged with failing to surrender firearm/license/FID card, interfering with a police officer, and bomb/hijack threat.

Magnan’s bail was set at $40.

Magnan was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Oct. 18, 2023; afterwhich he was released on his own personal recognizance under the condition that he stay away from the Nelson Street CVS and not possess any dangerous weapons.

Magnan’s next court date was a pretrial conference on Nov. 16, 2023.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from October, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming and difficult to update.