Massachusetts

Cops Seize ‘Arsenal of Home-Assembled High-Capacity Weapons' in Wrentham

Two of the rifles police said they found were unsecured in a bedroom, and one of them was loaded with a high-capacity magazine

A stockpile of weapons, including five AR-15–style rifles and homemade explosives, was confiscated Friday at a home in Wrentham, Massachusetts, whose occupant faces dozens of charges, including two counts of possessing machine guns, police said.

The weapons didn't have serial numbers, and investigators believe the man living at the home, Michael R. Roby, was buying component parts and assembling them there, according to a statement from Massachusetts State Police.

Roby was arrested in the raid on a house on May Street near Franklin Street conducted by MSP's Division of Homeland Security and Preparedness, along with local police and other agencies, police said.

Two of the rifles police found were unsecured in a bedroom, and one of them was loaded with a high-capacity magazine, according to the statement. Police also found five homemade explosive devices, an unsecured and loaded Glock pistol, over 20 high-capacity magazines, more ammunition, silencers, fireworks and banned bump-stock devices that effectively convert single-firing weapons into machine guns.

"This investigation and warrant execution was a shining example of a multi-agency partnership, and one that removed an arsenal of home-assembled high-capacity weapons from a defendant who was not authorized by law to make or possess them," said Massachusetts State Police Superintendent Col. Kerry A. Gilpin in a statement.

Roby was arraigned in Wrentham District Court Friday, and bail was set at $50,000 with the condition that Roby hand in any additional firearms in his possession, according to the Norfolk District Attorney.

It wasn't immediately clear if Roby had an attorney who could answer to the charges.

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