Minus tox report, Shannon probe to be released

Benjamin Shannon

CONCORD, N.H. – More than four months after lawmen fatally shot Benjamin Shannon while executing an arrest warrant on a bail infraction, the assistant attorney general in charge of the investigation told The Lebanon Voice on Wednesday he anticipates his final report will be released by the end of next week, with or without toxicology reports still not provided by the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office.

Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Agati said he had wanted to have the toxicology reports in hand before completing the probe, but given the extended length of time they are taking, he is unwilling to wait any longer.

“I’ve never seen them take this long,” Agati said.

Officials had originally said the toxicology reports would take four-to-six weeks.

Agati would not comment as to why the reports are so tardy or whether he had been in contact with Maine officials as to reasons why.

“I can’t comment on that,” he told The Lebanon Voice.

Agati said he had hoped to have the final report released this week, but scheduling and other considerations prevented that from happening.

He said all that needs to be done is to have the final draft completed and vetted by officials.

Shannon, 34, was mortally wounded as three officers from the Department of Probation and Parole and a Strafford County Sheriff’s Deputy sought to arrest him on a bail violation. Gunfire erupted minutes after the officers entered his mother’s mobile home inside Sak’s Trailer Park on Milton Road in Rochester the afternoon of March 10.

According to the coroner’s report from the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office, Shannon was shot three times, in the arms and torso. The autopsy was performed in Maine because Shannon died after being transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland the day of the shooting.

Shannon was known to have been in recent alcohol and drug detox.

He was charged with the robbery of George and Ed’s convenience store in February and was expected to be indicted on the charge by a Strafford County grand jury.

Police said he had threatened the clerk with a pellet gun.

Meanwhile, his family has filed a wrongful death suit in the case saying lawmen used improper procedures during the incident.