Federal and local investigators Monday intensified their search for eight men who burglarized a gun store in Orange.
The Fowler Gun Room on Tustin Street was boarded up Monday after the group ravaged the family-owned business early Saturday morning, using three stolen cars to commit the crime.
Security video showed the eight men, wearing masks and hoodies, were in and out of the store within minutes after using one of the stolen cars, a gray Kia, to ram the front of the gunshop.
The burglars, equipped with head lamps and sledgehammers, ransacked the store and broke glass cases to make away with at least 85 handguns and rifles, the store owner said. The looted weapons are estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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“We are concerned about any firearm that’s out there in the criminal’s hands that are going to be used to commit robberies, burglaries, any sort of crime,” Lt. Phil McMullin from the Orange Police Department said.
The latest burglary happened two weeks after a gun shop in Camillo was looted in the similar fashion – a group of men wearing dark clothing and masks making their way into the shop by using a stolen Kia to break through the front door.
“We believe this is a series, and that’s why we are working with and collaborating with ATF on this case,” McMullin explained, adding that Saturday’s burglary may be connected to what happened in Camarillo.
Police said the thieves left behind a sledgehammer and a piece of jewelry, which may have also been stolen from another crime.
