A Shotgun, Gold Bars, Cash, And A Treasure Trove Of Drugs: Concord Homeless Camp Shooting Victim Busted

CONCORD, NH — The man who was shot during a robbery attempt at the former homeless camp under the Water Street bridge in Concord in 2025 has been arrested on drug-dealing and gun-possession charges after a nearly eight-month investigation of drug dealing in several of the city’s homeless camps.

Matthew Snyder, 31, formerly of Lake Avenue in Manchester, now homeless, located in Concord, was arrested on April 8 on three felony counts of possession of a controlled drug-sale, etc. charges. He was arrested again on April 13 on felon in possession of a dangerous weapon, hand guns-armed career criminal two counts of possession of a controlled drug-subsequent, and two counts of possession of a controlled drug-sale, etc.,-subsequent charges.

According to court documents, Concord police had received numerous tips about a suspect known as “Meech” who had been involved in the distribution of drugs in the city during the past year.

In July 2025, a detective developed information from a source that “Meech,” one of the larger drug dealers in the city, was Snyder, a felon from Manchester, who was now living in the city’s homeless camps, according to an affidavit. The source gave the detective “what drugs he distributes, where he distributes them from, and who assists him in distributing them,” according to the report. The detective spoke to the source again in September 2025.

By December 2025, the campsites behind the 7-Eleven on South Main Street, not far from the Bow town line, had ballooned from a few to several, all along the railroad tracks, on land owned by the state of New Hampshire, a detective wrote.

During the next few weeks, drug activity and tips began to heat up.

In January, the detective spoke with a second source identifying Meech as “a source of drugs” who was described as the “big guy right now,” an affidavit stated. The source told the detective Snyder was making plans to pick up about a kilo of fentanyl in Massachusetts — with the source admitting to delivering the drug to customers on Snyder’s behalf, according to the report.

A Concord Regional Crimeline tip, also in January, offered information about Meech, and accused him of selling crack cocaine, fentanyl, and meth, at a camp behind the 7-Eleven, an affidavit stated.

Also in January, two police officers spoke with a third source who raised concerns about drugs being sold by Meech, the report said. The detective said the officers were told Snyder had possession of up to a kilo of fentanyl and a half pound of meth.

A review of his criminal history by the detective revealed a stolen property conviction from April 2013, making him a convicted felon, in Hills North, and drug convictions between 2022 and 2023 in both Hills North and Rockingham County. Snyder was also out on probation after the second offense conviction for drug sales in Manchester.

The DEA And A Task Force Get Involved

In March, the Hillsborough County Street Crimes Task Force got involved in the case, according to reports.

The task force had “developed information” that Snyder was selling methamphetamine to a “cooperating individual of the task force.”

Identified as “TX-26-03” in documents, they agreed to participate in “controlled purchases” with the police that month. The nickname Meech was confirmed to be associated with Snyder on a social media site, a report stated.

As part of the controlled drug sales, Concord police, the DEA, and the task force secured one-party authorization via the county attorney’s office to record the drug deals at Snyder’s homeless campsite.

The drug sales were made on March 12, March 19, and March 26, between Snyder and “TX” at the campsite behind 7-Eleven, according to an affidavit.

The Concord detective applied for a search warrant of Snyder’s tent on April 2, and it was approved. Police and the DEA executed the search warrant on April 8.

At the campsite, a woman in her 20s, “recognized from prior, police-related contacts” — she had been arrested several times on theft, criminal trespass, and warrants, exited the tent and was detained. Inside her pocket, a report stated, was “a large sum of cash.” After she was detained, Snyder exited the tent and was handcuffed, police said. During a pat down, the detective accused Snyder of possessing two metal cannisters containing drugs as well as four sets of keys. He was questioned about the amount of drugs he might have at the tent site and taken to police headquarters for processing, the detective wrote.

During booking, detectives told the reporting detective about some of the drugs they allegedly found at Snyder’s site: 2 ounces of meth, 20 to 30 sticks (200 to 300 grams) of fentanyl, and baggies, the report stated.

The cash value of the drugs was around $15,000.

Police said Friday the fentanyl amounted to around 165,000 doses seized.

A handgun and a shotgun were also found, the report said.

The shotgun was reportedly found in a “storage” tent next to Snyder’s sleeping tent, according to the report. It was later identified as an Omega AR12 20-gauge shotgun with a 12-gauge projectile loaded in its chamber. A magazine was also located with the shotgun. In a third area, a magazine and 26 projectiles were also found.

The handgun was a pellet gun, according to police.

Four gold bars, valued at around $50,000, as well as cash, were also seized during the search, police said. Investigators are testing the bars to determine their purity and exact value.

Questioning Snyder

While police were processing Snyder’s site, the reporting detective began a conversation with him during booking concerning the drugs found in his tent, the report stated.

Snyder said he paid $4,500 for 50 sticks (500 grams) of fentanyl, an affidavit said. He said the 20 to 30 sticks were what he had left over, the report stated, with the last pickup around half a pound (226 grams). During the conversation, Snyder was accused of admitting the fentanyl and possibly meth, too, might be in one of his backpacks.

When asked who was running drugs for him, “Matthew stated, ‘other f---ing homeless people’ and then said he doesn’t have anyone specific,” the report stated, adding he dumped most of the drugs himself.

Snyder was accused of admitting to selling the drugs at his camp and other places, too. He did not know at first how many customers he had, but it was not many, the report said. Upon further discussion, Snyder said homeless people were his customers, and it was “a lot of people.” When asked whether it was more than 50, he said it was; when asked if it was more than 100, he said he did not know, according to the affidavit.

Snyder was then questioned about the handgun, and he said it was a BB gun to thwart off potential threats because he had been shot before and almost died, the report stated. When asked about the shotgun, Snyder said, “What shotgun?,” the report alleged. When the detective said the shotgun was found in his storage tent, he said, “I’m not sure,” and denied knowing the shotgun was there, according to the report. The detective pivoted and downplayed the seriousness of the firearm, saying there was a difference between a gun that worked and one that didn’t, and then Snyder owned up to it, saying, “Oh, I actually know what you’re talking about,” the affidavit said. Snyder said a family member bought the shotgun for him for $1,500, but it did not work, according to the affidavit. He said the sale happened about six months ago, according to the report, adding he did not know if it was stolen but presumed it was. Snyder said he moved to the camps by 7-Eleven around December 2025, the detective wrote.

During the conversation, Snyder was upset the gun did not appear to work when it was racked, saying, “It’s just loose and sh-t,” the report stated. The detective accused Snyder of making “multiple contradicting statements” during the discussion about the shotgun and how it made its way into the storage tent.

The report also stated Snyder was shot in June 2025, while he was inside his tent underneath the Water Street bridge. Snyder said after the Water Street shooting, he decamped to the woods behind the methadone clinic on Hall Street and then moved to behind the 7-Eleven.

“If Matthew obtained the shotgun right after he got shot,” the detective wrote, “he would have not gotten it while he was living in his most recent encampment and would have transferred it between encampments.”

While being fingerprinted, Snyder referred to himself as “El Chapo,” the Mexican drug lord, the detective wrote. When asked who else distributed drugs in Concord, Snyder “laughed and told me that it was going to be ‘dry’ for a while around here,” due to his arrest, the detective said.

Snyder Is Released And Then Flees

After being arrested, Snyder was held at the Merrimack County Jail and arraigned via video in Concord District Court on the three felony drug sale counts.

At the time, Concord police were still processing the camp scene and had not issued the second round of charges.

Snyder requested a lawyer and one was appointed for him. Snyder offered no plea on the charges and was held without bail. A bail order hearing date was set for April 15 by Judge Erin McIntyre, allowing for the conversion of detainment bail and personal recognizance if he agreed not to possess a firearm, refrain from alcohol and drug use, and comply with pretrial services.

Part of the agreement was for Snyder to be screened by a licensed alcohol and drug counselor “for the potential need of substance abuse education and/or treatment and shall follow all recommendations and referrals.” Snyder was not to be released until electronic monitoring arrangements were made.

While McIntyre probably did not know about the impending charges, she certainly knew about the prior convictions. One could easily question the logic of releasing Snyder to pretrial services after all his prior convictions, as well as bail reform updated a year ago.

After being released from jail on April 10, Snyder was reportedly transferred by Uber to check in with pre-trial services. During the transfer, he allegedly jumped out of an Uber and fled the scene.

This led to a multi-day manhunt by Concord police and others, searching for Snyder.

Concord police, state troopers, and others hunt for Matthew Snyder on April 13. Credit: News 603.

Concord police issued a warrant for the second set of charges on April 10.

On Monday afternoon, police revisited the South End camp in an effort to locate Snyder.

A detective spotted him in the southeastern area of the city. State police were requested, and a perimeter was set up between the Bow town line, the South End of Concord near Rollins Park, Hall Street, and Water Street. K-9 “Charlie” was deployed, searching the railroad tracks along Hall Street.

Police received a tip Snyder might be trying to check into the Residence Inn on Hall Street around 3:30 p.m.

Not long after dispatch relayed this information, he was arrested at the Best Western, right next door.

Concord police, state troopers, and others hunt for Matthew Snyder on April 13 on Hall Street. K-9 unit “Charlie” was deployed during the search. Credit: News 603.

On Tuesday, Snyder was arraigned by video again and detained again. He also requested an attorney, according to court documents.

This time, Snyder was held without bail.

Police said the case was the largest drug bust from a homeless camp in Concord to date.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and city and county courts and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains how to request the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.

Snyder’s criminal history dates back to November 2012, when he was accused of felonious use of a firearm, receiving stolen property, and controlled drug: acts prohibited after an incident in Manchester. He pleaded guilty to the drug and stolen property charges in April 2013 and received a two-and-a-half-to-six-year sentence on the drug count, suspended for five years, along with a $434 fine. He was given a six-month sentence on the stolen property charge and time served of 33 days.

The gun charge, however, was nolle prossed.

In August 2014, Snyder was accused of violating a court order, but an agreement was made later. Another violation of a court order was booked in January 2021, but he failed to appear, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Another hearing was held in July 2021. In December 2021, he failed to appear at a show-cause hearing, with the court noting that he had not paid the 2012 fine. More hearings were held, and in November 2022, a violation-of-court-order hearing was scheduled but later withdrawn.

According to court records, he still owes $414 of the $459 financial assessment to the 2012 charges.

In June 2021, Snyder was arrested again after cops in Derry made a traffic stop for a vehicle without a license plate light. The officer accused Snyder, who was sitting in the passenger seat, of making furtive movements and appearing to conceal something, a report said. The officer also said both Snyder and the driver, a woman, lit cigarettes to mask the marijuana smoke in the vehicle. A marijuana bowl and a large knife were spotted in the vehicle after the driver was asked to exit.

Snyder had an active warrant for failure to appear and was arrested. Along with the warrant, he was charged with two counts of drug possession and possession of marijuana. The drug possession charges were lowered to controlled premises where drugs are kept as part of a plea deal in February 2022: two 12-month jail sentences, both deferred for a year, and $1,240 in fines, all but $124 suspended plus a $25 fee. The marijuana charges were nolle prossed. Snyder failed to appear at a review hearing of the case in July 2022. The sentence was amended in March 2023, leading to him serving 220 days in jail. Snyder failed to show for a show-cause hearing in September 2023.

As of Tuesday, he still has not paid the $149 fine and fee.

In July 2022, Snyder was accused of 11 drug sale, possession, and other charges after an incident in Manchester. Police conducting a “hot spot patrol” on Amherst Street saw Snyder crossing the street, in front of the cruiser, while not in a crosswalk, according to an affidavit. They spoke with him and noted he smelled like marijuana, the report said. During a discussion, Snyder said he was walking home to Lake Street, but the officer said he was unable to make eye contact and kept denying he had done anything wrong, even though police were not suggesting he had. Dispatch told the officers Snyder had an active warrant for nonappearance in court from seven months before and he was arrested. A check of his bag found “multiple compartments” with a combination lock and inside were a baggie of pills, marijuana in vacuum sealed bags, about 5 grams of cocaine in two baggies, a baggie of fentanyl-heroin, 10 ecstasy pills, a scale, empty baggies, and $494 in cash.

A month later, while out on bail, he was charged with four more drug sale counts in Manchester after a Chevrolet Cruze pulled up next to a cruiser around Pine and Merrimack streets and the officer saw a man nodding off in the passenger seat. A check of the registration found the owner had lost their driving privileges. The vehicle was stopped, a consent search was requested and agreed to, and Snyder was identified as the passenger in the car, according to an affidavit. Dispatch said he had active warrants and he was arrested. Cops found four plastic bags filled with about 5.9 grams of fentanyl-heroin and 6.4 grams of cocaine, the report stated. Snyder also had $294 in cash and numerous gift cards, police said in the report.

In October 2022, five charges connected to the July 2022 incident were dismissed without prejudice. In March 2023, Snyder reached a plea deal on three drug charges and received three two-and-a-half-to-five-year sentences, all suspended for six years. He was also fined $434.

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