Thieves steal 20 guns after driving stolen car into south Charlotte store

CHARLOTTE — An employee at a south Charlotte gun store said someone smashed through the front door and stole nearly two dozen guns.

It happened at the Carolina Sporting Arms on South Boulevard.

Channel 9′s Evan Donovan learned two people smashed a stolen car into the front doors of the business around 4 a.m. Tuesday, according to an employee. Then they ran in, stole the guns, and ran off.

“The alarm company called so we were here pretty quick. And the police were here,” said Mike Simpson.

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Simpson is the director of training at Carolina Sporting Arms. He described what he saw when he arrived at the store after getting that call.

“A car was crashed, wedged in between some columns, and damage to the front of the store,” he said.

Simpson said typically the front doors have security and a rolling metal door behind them. But they have since been temporarily replaced.

After employees did an inventory, they found 20 guns were missing. The police report lists the types of guns and their value: Eighteen pistols, a shotgun, and a rifle.

Nearly $14,000 worth of guns are now on the street. Simpson said he’s hoping justice will come swiftly.

“We hope that whenever they catch the people that did this, they’re punished completely, because this was a big crime,” he said. “We want to keep guns off the street. We want to keep guns away from people who shouldn’t have them. And hopefully, prosecution will be swift and severe.”

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is the lead agency investigating, but Donovan confirmed that the ATF is also involved. A spokesperson there said ATF special agents and several industry operations investigators are helping CMPD figure out who might be responsible.

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