By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella determined that November’s deadly stand-off in Plymouth during which Kevin Steinfeldt was hit by at least 13 bullets out of the estimated 76 fired by six different New Hampshire State Troopers was justified.
And, that Steinfeldt, 58, died by suicide, and that police fired first. And, if not for the apparent self-inflicted gunshot to the head, Steinfeldt would have likely died from the bullets fired by police.
The Attorney General’s final report on the Nov. 7, 2024, incident, released Thursday, legally clears SWAT team members Sgt. Michael Cedrone, Sgt. Stefan Czyzowski, Sgt. Nicholas Levesque, Trooper Daniel Roger, Trooper First Class Ryan St. Cyr, and Sgt. Noah Sanctuary. According to the report, the officers all believed that Steinfeldt was either about to start shooting at them, or had started shooting at them. That belief makes the shootings an open and shut case of self-defense for the troopers.
But the official, final report, based on witness statements from two civilians and several police officers, as well as forensic examinations of the scene and an autopsy, leaves some questions open.
First, it’s not known how many times troopers fired their semiautomatic rifles. Investigators collected 76 shell casings from locations where the troopers were positioned outside the Federal House Inn where Steinfeldt lived. But, based on the unfired bullets left in the magazines, more than 76 bullets were likely fired, according to a footnote in the report.
“Although, when calculating the remaining rounds discovered in their firearm magazines against the approximately 28 rounds believed to be loaded into each magazine does not total 76 casings expended, it is possible that some casings were not located during the search of the scene or, the number could be impacted by a varying number of total rounds loaded before firing,” the report states.
Based on the forensic evidence, it’s not clear which trooper or troopers actually shot Steinfeldt of the six who fired their weapons, the report states.
The report says Dr. Abigail Alexander with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner examined Steinfeldt’s body. Alexander reports 13 “perimortem” gunshot wounds likely caused by the troopers and three bullet grazing wounds. There was also a single gunshot to Steinfeldt’s head that was self-inflicted.
Perimortem is the medical term for injuries that occur around the time of death, as opposed to antemortem for injuries that take place before death, or postmortem for injuries after death. The Attorney General’s Office said there were no other gunshot wounds aside from the 13 perimortem bullets, and referred back to the report. Dr. Alexander said without the self-inflicted wound, it was “highly likely” Steinfeldt would have died.
“Dr. Alexander noted that though it is highly likely Mr. Steinfeldt would have died from these injuries if not for the self-inflicted gunshot wound of the head, the degree of hemorrhaging in the tissues affected was insufficient to have been the cause of his death,” the report states.
The shooting came at the end of a 10-hour standoff that started when Attorney Gabriel Nizetic and his assistant, Darien Harrison, went to the Federal House Inn to talk to Steinfeldt. Nizetic had been appointed by a court to deal with Steinfeldt’s property. Steinfeldt was under court-order to refinance the Route 25 property as part of his divorce, but he had reportedly been ignoring Nizetic and the court for months. Nizetic first met with Steinfeldt outside the inn and explained he now faced being evicted if he did not cooperate with the court orders.
“Mr. Steinfeldt became upset and said words to the effect of ‘it would be a very bad day for everyone if that were to happen,’” the report states.
Steinfeldt offered to continue talking inside, and Nizetic and Harrison followed. Inside the inn, Steinfeldt locked the door, pulled a handgun, and held it to Harrison’s head. Harrison quickly moved his head and put his hand up to get the gun away just before Steinfeldt fired, according to the report.
Nizetic and Harrison wrestled with Steinfeldt for the gun, with Harrison managing to get control of it, according to the report. During the struggle, Steinfeldt reportedly tried to pull Nizetic’s eye out of his head.
Unarmed, Steinfeldt ran into another room, got a meat cleaver, and started coming at the men. Harrison then pointed the gun to keep Steinfeldt at bay while Nizetic got the door unlocked. The lawyer and Harrison next fled to a nearby business and called police.
Plymouth Police were on the scene in minutes and set up a perimeter around the Federal House Inn. Plymouth Police heard one to two gunshots coming from inside the house, but did not fire back. Plymouth Deputy Chief Nathan Buffington called Steinfeldt and tried to talk him out of the house, but Steinfeldt told Buffington that no one was coming inside his house and assault him.
Steinfeldt stopped picking up his phone by the time the New Hampshire State Police SWAT team arrived and took over the incident. The SWAT team used an armored BearCat vehicle to break open doors around the building so that team members could toss in tear gas canisters. Instead of forcing Steinfeldt out, troopers report the smell of gasoline coming from inside the building.
Steinfeldt had at this point retreated to the basement of the building and taken an overdose of oxycodone.
“Mr. Steinfeldt began communicating with [Trooper Samuel Provenza] a member of the negotiation team. He stated he was in the basement, had a rifle pointed at his chin, and acknowledged that he attempted to overdose on painkillers. Mr. Steinfeldt also noted several times that he did not want to go to jail. Mr. Steinfeldt eventually communicated that he was going to get dressed and surrender,” the report states.
Provenza seemingly made progress coaxing Steinfeldt to come outside and surrender. Provenza told investigators he made it clear that Steinfeldt needed to leave the building completely unarmed, and with nothing in his hands.
“Mr. Steinfeldt was told to walk outside with nothing in his hands, and not to come outside with a rifle. Mr. Steinfeldt responded that he needed to get his slippers and orthotics so he could come outside, and that he still had the rifle pointed at his chin,” the report states. “Mr. Steinfeldt made it sound as though they had made progress, and Mr. Steinfeldt was going to exit the residence. A short time later, Trooper Provenza heard a muffled sound on the phone, and Mr. Steinfeldt stopped responding. Trooper Provenza overheard radio traffic that shots had been fired and later learned that Mr. Steinfeldt was deceased.”
The events immediately surrounding the shootings are not completely clear. Troopers inside the BearCat saw Steinfeldt in the doorway holding the rifle to his chin in one hand, and something else in the other. Two of the Bearcat troopers told investigators they believed he had just picked up a pair of shoes, but the third trooper inside the vehicle could not tell. All three knew he was holding a rifle and started shouting to warn the other troopers.
“He’s coming out! He’s got a rifle!”
Video evidence from one of the trooper’s body cameras shows Steinfeldt bending over to pick up his shoes while holding the rifle, prompting the shouted warnings.
Cedrone, a veteran member of the SWAT team, shot first. He was positioned outside the Bearcat at the left front of the vehicle facing the building. He told investigators he saw Steinfeldt in the doorway holding the rifle “oriented like north to south.”
When Steinfeldt turned his body to face the Bearcat, Cedrone told investigators he was concerned Steinfeldt was going to open fire. The report does not state that Steinfeldt had changed the positioning of his rifle. Cedrone then fired his rifle twice. Steinfeldt is seen on the video shooting himself through the chin as the shouting started.
At this point, Cedrone and the five other troopers all report either hearing a shot coming from Steinfeldt’s gun, or hearing it and seeing a muzzle flash. That’s when the troopers fired a barrage of shots at Steinfeldt over less than 20 seconds.
With the final Attorney General’s report, the case is closed and the troopers will not face any legal repercussions for the shootings.