More than 50 guns stolen from California store after burglars use car to ram security gates

Orange police were searching for approximately 10 men who used a car to smash the front of a gun shop on Tustin Avenue before going in and stealing dozens of firearms early Saturday morning, July 13, authorities said.

The heist at Fowler’s Gun Room, 358 S. Tustin St., was completed within a few minutes after the men arrived in three vehicles at about 5 a.m., Orange Police Lt. Phil McMullin said.

One of the suspects put a silver Kia sedan into reverse and rammed the front of the shop before an unknown number of men ran in, smashed display cases and stole handguns and rifles, McMullin said.

“I know they’re still working on inventory, but we’re estimating more than 50” firearms were stolen, the lieutenant said.

The men wore hoodies and masks, McMullin said. Police did not immediately have a description of the other two vehicles, nor was it known what direction they fled.

Police suspect the Kia sedan may have been stolen and investigators were waiting to hear back from the registered owner, McMullin said.

The department was working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in investigating the burglary, police said.

McMullin said Orange police were aware of a similar heist that took place in Camarillo on July 1. In that heist, burglars used a blue Kia sedan, which was stolen hours earlier, to rear-end the entrance of a gun store to get inside, the Ventura County Star reported.

After the crash, burglars went in and smashed several glass cases to steal guns, but did not take ammunition or cash, the paper reported. The burglars used a second vehicle to flee the scene.

Whether the two cases were related was not yet known.