Deaths Of 3 At Hotel Standoff Justified: NH Attorney General

CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office has released an 84-page report deeming the deaths of three people during a standoff with police at the Quality Inn in Manchester in March 2019 as legally justified. Stephen Marshall, 51, of Manchester, was shot and killed by Manchester Police Detective Cliff Ellston and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Jean Drouin, according to the investigator's report, released on Wednesday. Christian St. Cyr, 26, and Brandie (Tarantino) St. Cyr, 21, who were married, and accused of dealing drugs out of their home in Goffstown, were killed by "less-lethal munitions" by Manchester and Nashua police officers.

The findings and conclusions in the report, investigators said, "were based on information gathered during the investigation, including photographs, videos, physical evidence, police reports, and witness interviews."

How It All Began

On March 27, 2019, police received a tip that Marshall and the St. Cyrs were holed up in a room at the hotel. Christian St. Cyr, the tipster said, was driving a stolen BMW, and they all had multiple warrants. The tipster also said they were in possession of "multiple firearms."

The Drug Enforcement Agency had been tracking the trio who were suspected of purchasing drugs in Massachusetts and dealing them in New Hampshire. After receiving the tip, DEA task force members headed to the hotel to check out the tip — which was later confirmed around 5 p.m.

Backup officers from Manchester were called in to assist with the arrest the trio as police surrounded the hotel and their room and crisis negotiators attempted to get them to surrender peacefully around 7:15 p.m., according to the report.

Marshall answered one of the calls, spoke with the crisis officer for about 5 minutes, said he was alone in the room, denied there were guns, and agreed to come out, according to the report.

"A few moments after hanging up the phone, Mr. Marshall was seen at the window of Room 100 by members of the Task Force," the report stated. "The window was opened, and then a gunshot was heard along with the sound of breaking glass. Members of the Task Force took cover and monitored the open window. Approximately one minute later, the officers saw and heard more glass breaking as the remaining portion of the window was smashed out. Mr. Marshall then jumped from the window to the ground. Officers could see he was holding a semiautomatic handgun in his right hand."

Marshall was ordered not to move but shifted his body so that the barrel of his handgun was pointing at the officers as he turned, investigators said. Marshall swung his arm up with the gun to face officers and was shot by both Ellston, who fired six shots from his handgun, and Drouin, who fired seven from a rifle.

Patch news partner Jeffrey Hastings, of Frame of Mind Photography, who was working at a nearby Starbucks and went to find out what was going on, caught the situation on camera.

The Manchester Police Department armored vehicle was called to the hotel to provide cover to retrieve Marshall who was taken to Elliott Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

How The St. Cyrs Died

At about 8:30 p.m., Christian St. Cyr texted a friend and told them he had decided to shoot it out with police and not surrender.

For the next 13 hours, the St. Cyrs "engaged in an armed standoff with police as officers attempted to negotiate a peaceful surrender" with the pair firing "at police over the first eight hours of this standoff." Other patrons in the hotel were evacuated the minute gunfire starting coming from the room. Some of the gunshots, the report said, were aimed in the direction of officers outside the window, while others were aimed in the direction of the officers in the hotel hallway or just outside the north end of the building.

"While an accurate account of every shot fired by the occupants is impossible due to the state of the scene when the standoff ended, at least 32 shots were fired from inside the room," the report stated.

Both Manchester and Nashua police officers "tried a variety of communication methods and less-lethal munitions to persuade the occupants to surrender" including phone calls, PA announcements, verbal commands, text messages, chemical munitions, bean bag rounds, and noise-flash devices, the report said. Officers even used a fire hose to take down a section of drywall while the occupants tried to hide from view while shooting at police officers.

"When officers did this, Mr. St. Cyr turned and started shooting at the Manchester police officers handling the hose," the report said. "Manchester Police Officer Thomas Florenzo returned fire, discharging two shots from his department-issued rifle at Mr. St. Cyr. Officer Florenzo’s two rounds did not hit anyone and embedded themselves into the wall of a room across the hallway."

The standoff ended just before 10:15 a.m. on March 28 when officers were able to enter the room and retrieve the dead bodies of the St. Cyrs.

Neither died from gunshot wounds, according to the report, but were injured and killed while attempting to barricade police from the room while being hit by "less-lethal" munitions such as ferret round — canisters of chemical agents launched into the hotel room.

Since the pair refused to surrender, while given opportunity, and were shooting at officers across many hours, their deaths were deemed justified by the attorney general's office

No officers were injured during the incident.

Drug Dealing Investigation

About 10 days before the shooting, both DEA agents and Nashua police were conducting separate investigations of the St. Cyrs concerning drug dealing — specifically, a 600 grams of fentanyl buy while they were tracking a Nissan owned by a Manchester man.

The St. Cyrs were also dealing crack cocaine from their home, investigators learned later.

During trips to Massachusetts, the pair would pick up anywhere from 60 to 80 fingers of fentanyl and a couple of ounces of cocaine a few times a week. The drugs were then re-sold in Laconia and Manchester.

An informant told Queen City police that Christian St. Cyr was the dealer and the owner of the Nissan, who turned out to be another informant, was "his runner." DEA task force members surveilled the Nissan as it made a drug buy in Massachusetts, according to the report. The St. Cyrs used the proceeds to fuel their habits, the report stated.

"They loved smoking crack," the runner said. "That was their thing. At any point, they could have been high on crystal (methamphetamine), crack, coke, heroin, all at the same time" adding "they were unstable people, very unstable."

The runner was also using drugs — which is why he kept working and hanging around with them.

Later, while casing the St. Cyr's Goffstown home on Plimpton Road, Marshall purchased drugs at the home and was arrested by Nashua police on a possession charge after leaving the residence.

The investigation revealed that the girlfriend of the runner was the tipster to police who called in the information about Marshall and the St. Cyrs being at the hotel.

She told investigators she saw Marshall and Christian St. Cyr with handguns and heard them making comments about hating police and that they would "go down with a bang." Marshall was unable to get the hotel room on March 27 but a family member rented it for him, investigators said.

The runner, according to the report, had a falling out with Christian St. Cyr on March 22 when Christian St. Cyr forced him to sell his Nissan to purchase a BMW SUV. The St. Cyrs and Marshall later took the BMW from the runner and never returned it.

The runner eventually found out from Marshall's family member that she had checked the trio into a local hotel. The runner then started searching hotels around the city, found it at the Quality Inn, went to a nearby Starbucks and called his girlfriend and requested she call police, and then, she tipped off police to the trio being at the hotel, according to the report.

Read the full report and evidence from the case on the New Hampshire Attorney General's website.

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube channel.