Thieves steal firearms from 2 Pittsburgh-area gun stores

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Two gun stores in the Pittsburgh area were robbed over the last two days.

Police have surveillance video that allegedly shows three men casing Seconds Count Firearms in Mercer County. They're accused of crashing a car into the store at the corner of North Diamond and Pitt streets at around 5:15 a.m. on Monday. The suspects took off with an unknown number of guns.

"They just grabbed them and ran. They are taking inventory now," Mercer Borough Police Chief Robert Davis said.

According to Davis, the suspects' car got stuck in the building and just missed a gas line.

They allegedly ran off and stole another car to get away. That car was found not too far away from the scene. The whole ordeal lasted only a few minutes.

"The whole block would have went up, so that's just another charge they are going to get," Chief Davis said about the suspects almost hitting the gas line.

On Monday night, Pittsburgh Public Safety said three people believed to be connected to the gun shop theft were arrested in Pittsburgh. They were taken into custody after a traffic stop at West Warrington Avenue and Saw Mill Run Boulevard and firearms were recovered.

The arrests come after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Duke Sport Shop in Shenango Township, Lawrence County was hit.

Investigators said a group of people broke in around 4:20 a.m. on Sunday and made off with several guns. There was no word on specific models of guns taken, but officers said a car was not used to break into the store like in Mercer County. Investigators are still figuring out how the suspects got in.

"You have guns out there that should be tracked, and they're out there in the public. It's very dangerous," Chief Davis said.

This all comes after RC Firearms in New Kensington had a truck ram into it and two men take off with 24 guns in January . The two suspects were charged in February by a grand jury.

Currently, police are still looking for the suspects in the Lawrence County case. There is no word yet of if the robberies are connected.