Weymouth gun dealer robbed
Police try to track stolen weapons
WEYMOUTH -- A thief crawled through the ventilation shaft of a firearms dealer over the weekend and made off with a small arsenal of guns that probably will soon be sold on the black market, authorities said.
Weymouth Police Lieutenant George Greenwood said the thief, still at large, stole ''numerous" guns, including Glock, Beretta, and Ruger handguns as well as one shotgun, and 10 boxes of ammunition from Hunter's Trading Post on Winter Street.
''You worry when there's guns out on the street. We're looking for all the information we can get from anyone who knows anything about this," he said. ''We don't want innocent people getting hurt by these guns."
A spokesman for the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which is involved in the investigation, said the guns may now be in the hands of potential criminals.
''People conducting these kinds of thefts generally know in advance where they can go to get rid of them," said Jim McNally of the bureau's Boston office. ''There's always people willing to pay good money for them."
The theft stunned Donald Hunt, owner of Hunter's Trading Post, who said he had taken every safety measure he could think of to guard against robberies, including bars on the windows and alarms.
''We secured the building as best we could," he said. ''The only way I thought someone would break in is to drive a truck through the front."
Instead, the thief pried open a metal plate outside the store and crawled into the ventilation shaft, emerging through the roof above the store's showroom, Weymouth police said.
The thief set off an alarm at 4:56 a.m. Sunday, but when Weymouth police responded they saw nothing amiss and moved on, Greenwood said.
He said Hunt did not respond to the alarm, so the Weymouth officers could not enter the store.
The store's alarm was triggered again at 6:21 a.m. Both Hunt and police responded, discovering the theft.
The thief was captured on the store's surveillance cameras, but was wearing a stocking cap and concealing clothes, Hunt said.
