MALDEN, Mass. — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above is from our reporting on July 7, 2021.
A group of men charged in connection with a 9-hour armed standoff Saturday that partially shut down Interstate 95 in Wakefield, Massachusetts, were on their way to the Bangor area when they were stopped, the Bangor Daily News reports.
During a press conference on Saturday, officials said one of the suspects told them they were traveling from Rhode Island to Maine for "training," but did not detail what that training was or if there was any other connection to Maine. This exchange between officers and one of the suspects was also detailed in the Massachusetts State Police arrest report.
The 11 men who are charged have been making their initial court appearances in Malden District Court this week. According to the Bangor Daily News, video evidence revealed in court Friday showed the group's leader telling a Massachusetts trooper they had "some land near Bangor" where they were "going to train."
In court documents released Wednesday, Massachusetts police said the men were traveling in two vehicles with unregistered Maine plates: a Fort Transit van and a Honda Ridgeline pickup truck.
Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said officials with the Maine Information Analysis Center (MIAC) were notified and have been following up with the Maine State Police's state and federal partners "as necessary" to investigate the Maine connection.
On Tuesday, Moss told NEWS CENTER Maine the MIAC hadn't confirmed that the group was heading to Maine, and said they were still investigating whether there is a connection with Maine.
The court documents released Wednesday by Malden District Court, however, allude to confirm the connection, Moss said Wednesday.
Police said the Ford Transit's Massachusetts registration was revoked in 2020, and the Honda Ridgeline's Massachusetts registration was canceled in 2020.
Court documents also reveal that police seized a plethora of equipment and weapons from the two vehicles. Here is the full list, per court documents:
From the Ford Transit:
- A CZ P-10C pistol with loaded magazine recovered from the passenger side rear seat
- A Glock 44 .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol and loaded magazine
- A Ruger 556 5.56 caliber semi-automatic rifle with a loaded 28-round magazine
- A Palmetto State Armory PA-15 rifle
- A DPMS Panther Arms A15 5.56 caliber rifle
- Approximately 630 live 223 caliber rounds of ammunition in a green bag
- Approximately 13 magazines loaded with an unknown quality of ammunition
- A sandwich bag filled with .22 caliber ammunition
- A box of approximately 150 rounds of 9mm Luger caliber ammunition
- 26 12-gauge shotgun shells
- A box of approximately 140 5.56 caliber rounds of ammunition
- A loaded 9mm Luger magazine
- A box of approximately 100 12-gauge shotgun shells
- Seven magazines loaded with an unknown amount of ammunition recovered from a white trash bag under the van’s second-row bench seat
- Approximately 50 .308 caliber rounds of ammunition
- Approximately 20 7.62×51 caliber rounds of ammunition
From the Honda Ridgeline:
- A Remington model 700 .308 Winchester caliber rifle with a Nikon scope recovered in the back seat
- A loaded Mossberg model 930 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun (loaded with a 12-gauge shell in the chamber) recovered between the front passenger seat and center console
- A Glock semi-automatic pistol recovered from the back seat
- Three loaded 5.56 magazines
- One loaded .22 caliber magazine
- One loaded .308 caliber magazine
- A clear bag containing ammunition
- A loaded .40 caliber drum magazine
- A box of 20 .308 caliber rounds of ammunition
- A box of 40 9mm Luger rounds of ammunition
- 96 rounds of 5.56 caliber ammunition
None of the men, who were dressed in military fatigues and body armor and were armed with long guns and pistols, had a license to carry firearms in Massachusetts.