A 41-year-old Concord man who police say shot and killed himself after a standoff with police in Manchester was wanted of a federal warrant accusing him of drug dealing.
The United States Attorney’s Office of New Hampshire announced this week that Benjamin Bennett of Concord was approached by Deputy U.S. Marshals on May 26 in Manchester, which triggered the fatal confrontation and standoff.
“Bennett is believed to have fired a weapon at the Deputy Marshals,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said. “Representatives of the Manchester Police Department and other law enforcement agencies responded to the scene. Law enforcement officers later found Bennett dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Bennett was wanted for possessing controlled substances with the intent to distribute after he was pulled over on March 4 in the Littleton area, the U.S Attorney’s Office said. Bennett was stopped by State Police and arrested for operating without a license and being a habitual offender.
“A later search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of distributable quantities of suspected methamphetamine and heroin/fentanyl,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Bennett was the focus of a Federal arrest warrant, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, following an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the State Police and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Drug Task Force.
The complaint was sealed until this week.
Concord Deputy Police Chief John Thomas said his department was not involved in the arrest or compiling any documentation on what happened.
He said Bennett might have remained free after the traffic stop while law enforcement officials tested the drugs that were found in his car.
Thomas checked Concord Police records, which showed the department had had an incident with Bennett 11 years ago. “A violation of a protective order,” Thomas said, “and we don’t know the outcome.”
Bennett was initially believed to have lived in Manchester, at the Union Street residence where he died, but the U.S Attorney’s office said he hailed from Concord.
Assisting the United States Marshals Service and the Manchester Police Department in the case were the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Nashua Police Department, Manchester Fire Department and American Medical Response.