A gun shop burglary in suburban St. Louis took a dangerous turn earlier today when the suspects allegedly fired shots at a witness to the crime.
According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, police responded to the Southern Armory gun shop, the scene of this incident, early this morning shortly before 3:00am Central Time. The store is located in Chesterfield, MO, which is west of downtown St. Louis, and is next to a Harbor Freight Tools shop which just happened to have someone inside working who apparently saw what happened; the newspaper reported, citing a store manager, that the employee was on the phone to police when the suspects in the gun store burglary fired on the front doors of the neighboring business, barely missing the worker, but instead damaged the front windows and a computer at the business.
Police are looking for the three suspects, described as wearing masks, and according to the Post-Dispatch, may also be involved in a second heist which happened about 15 minutes prior to the Chesterfield incident at a gun shop in nearby High Ridge, MO. In both burglaries, rifles and shotguns were taken.
These two gun store robberies are the latest in a number of gun heists which have made news in St. Louis throughout the year; back in June, Liberty Park Press reported on the increase of gun shop thefts in the area.