Multiple stolen guns recovered by local police, several still missing

MARSHFIELD, Mo. – Police across the area have recovered several guns that were stolen from a pawn shop in Marshfield.

The burglary happened on March 24. Thieves used the cover of darkness to steal 18 guns from Marshfield Gun and Pawn.

“We had a couple of guys enter Marshfield Gun and Pawn, used an ax and used a hammer while they were in there,” said Webster County Sheriff Roye Cole.

13 handguns and five AR-15s were stolen in the middle of the night.

“The owners of the pawn shops that did a really good job of keeping record of course serial numbers of the weapons and things like that,” Cole said. “And that made it pretty easy to track down where we found them.”

Four of those guns have now been recovered by police.

“They didn’t do a very good job of covering up their tracks,” Cole said. “So it’s pretty easy to follow as long as we’re communicating with the other agencies.”

Sheriff Cole says this case is growing and now involves a lot more than just stolen guns.

“We know for sure of one that was hit in our jurisdiction, but there was another one that was attempted in Springfield and there was a stolen car in Springfield,” Cole said. “And so there’s several different crimes that went along with this spree in different jurisdictions.”

No charges have been filed in the burglary, but Cole says they do have a list of potential suspects.

“We believe the suspects live kind of in the Springfield area and several of them have been identified at this point,” Cole said.

Over the past four years, Springfield Police have been recovering more and more stolen and illegal firearms, including one gun from the Marshfield burglary on Saturday, April 20.

“It’s all of our responsibility as a community to do our part and making sure our firearms are kept secure and safe,” said Lt. Brandon Penrose with SPD.

Police say it is important for everyone to practice responsible gun ownership since most guns are stolen from individuals.

“A lot of stolen guns are used in a variety of crimes,” Penrose said. “And so we just encourage everybody to follow some basic things as far as handling use and of course, storage of firearms. So that way it reduces the chance of getting into the wrong hands.”

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