A Leominster Shop Owner Duct-Taped in His Own Store
Two men walked into a North Main Street store in Leominster on a Monday afternoon, bound the owner's hands and ankles with duct tape, and robbed him at gunpoint.
Scene imagery is illustrative — not the actual locationOn a Monday afternoon in February 2025, two men entered Sam and Friends, a store on North Main Street in Leominster. According to WHDH, they restrained the owner — binding his hands and ankles with duct tape — and held him at gunpoint while they robbed the store.
The men left in a blue-gray Honda CRV with Pennsylvania plates, police said. Investigators released detailed descriptions of both suspects and warned the public to consider them armed and dangerous.
The owner was not reported physically injured. But he spent part of an ordinary business day tied up on the floor of his own shop, waiting to find out what two armed strangers intended to do.
Seconds versus minutes.
Nobody moves toward danger faster than police. The clock is still the clock.
Until they arrive, you are the plan: distance, locked doors, a phone in hand, training. A Massachusetts license takes months — start before you need it.
Sources: NENA 911 call-processing standard (STA-020.1-2020) · FBI, Active Shooter Incidents 2000–2013 · City of Boston, Boston About Results — BPD Performance Report. Boston's figure is its last published Priority 1 median, call receipt to arrival. Incident timing is from the FBI's study of timed violent incidents. Respect for the officers who answer these calls, always — this is arithmetic, not blame.
This could have been any of us.
Massachusetts runs on small shops like this one — single owners or families, often working alone, keeping long hours on main streets in towns like Leominster. A Monday afternoon isn't when anyone braces for violence; that's the morning-coffee, restock-the-shelves part of the week. If you own a business, work in one, or just spend time in the little stores downtown, this one lands close.
The reality most of us never see coming.
Sources: Boston Police Department (BRIC year-end report) · FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Crime in the U.S. 2019 · OSHA news release citing NIOSH (2019 data)
What we tell our students.
Small-business owners are heavily represented in our classes, and stories like this are why. They work alone, they handle cash, and they can't exactly choose their customers. When they come to us, the first conversation isn't about firearms — it's about procedures: layouts and sight lines, cameras, cash habits, and having a plan you've actually rehearsed for the worst fifteen minutes of your life. Compliance saved this owner's life, and compliance is a strategy, not a failure.
The second conversation is about timelines. Owners are always shocked that the Massachusetts License to Carry process — training class, application, interview, background check — commonly takes months from the day you start. If something in your gut says you should be more prepared than you are, that's a project for this month, not for the week after something happens on your street.
State Police & NRA certified instructors · 20+ years teaching Massachusetts · Indoor range in Everett, 10 minutes from Boston
See if you qualify for a Massachusetts License to Carry.
A few quick questions, no personal information — an honest read on whether Massachusetts is likely to say yes, before you spend a cent.
Questions first? Text us: (781) 664-9551 — a real person replies, usually within minutes.