MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A $10,000 reward is being offered for information after thieves broke into a shooting range and stole 32 guns.
The theft happened Monday morning at Shoot Point Blank off I-40 and Whitten Road.
Surveillance pictures released by the ATF show at least three men rifling through display cases after one uses what appears to be a pickaxe to smash them open. The men can then be seen placing the stolen guns into bags.
Former detective C.T. Freeman has worked similar cases and said stolen guns are frequently traded to other criminals on the black market for use in other crimes.
“I’ve seen stolen firearms from residences show up years later, and they’re used in some crime in California or somewhere else, so it could be anywhere,” Freeman said.
Freeman said the guns won’t be easy to track down. Typically, law enforcement can enter the serial numbers into a database, but then they must wait for the stolen guns to turn up at another crime scene.
“There is no type of a tracker or tracer on these individual weapons,” Freeman said. “It’s not like a GPS or whatever. You just have to wait ’til they show up somewhere.”
It couldn’t happen at a worse possible time for Memphis, which just shattered its record for most homicides in a single month. In July, police say there were 43 homicides.
The ATF and National Shooting Sports Foundation are each offering $5,000 for information that leads to arrests.
You can submit tips by calling the ATF at (888) ATF-TIPS (1-888-283-8477) or CrimeStoppers at (901) 528-CASH. Information can also be sent to ATFTips@atf.gov or through ATF’s website at www.atf.gov/contact/atftips.
