Four Men Involved in Rockville Gun Shop Burglary at Large, Probably Armed
Montgomery County Police say five people robbed United Gun Shop in Rockville Thursday morning, fled the scene, and four of the suspects are on the loose. The fifth suspect has died, according to police.
Marcus Jones, the acting chief for MCPD, urges county residents to proceed with caution when outside.
“We believe the suspects that are still outstanding are armed and dangerous, and we are asking for the public’s assistance to be very cautious while leaving their homes this morning or observing anything in the neighborhood that does not appear to be right.”
Jones advises that if residents see any suspicious activity that they don’t personally respond, but rather call the police to investigate the situation.
Police Suspect Four Men Involved in Gun Shop Robbery May Be Armed
During a press conference at around 5 a.m., Jones said that an alarm was sounded at the gun shop at around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Police say that 911 was notified by a caller to “lookout for five suspects, described as black males.”
Photo of damage to the police cruiser after being rammed by the suspects in the United Gun Store Burglary and subsequent Assault on the Police Officer. pic.twitter.com/jWXEvOJJtS
— Montgomery County Department of Police (@mcpnews) June 13, 2019
Jones said that units arrived within four minutes and when they drove into the parking lot outside of the shop, “they observed a vehicle [a white SUV] that accelerated very quickly” toward one of the police cruisers.
The police cruiser was struck, so — Jones said — the officer driving the cruiser then fired gunshots toward the vehicle as it was exiting the parking lot onto Randolph Road.
The SUV then headed toward Loemanns Plaza; there, the driver and passengers abandoned the SUV on the roadway and ran away, according to Jones.
Jones said that police haven’t yet located the four suspects who fled the car, but they did locate the fifth suspect in the abandoned SUV. The man was unresponsive and had a gunshot wound, police say.
According to police, “Officers removed the unresponsive suspect from the vehicle to take life-saving actions that were ineffective. The suspect was deceased on the scene.”
He hasn’t yet been identified by police.
According to Jones, when police went back to United Gun Shop, they noticed a vehicle that rammed into the garage. Jones said the vehicle was used as an “entry weapon” to enter the shop.
Photo of suspect vehicle used to break into gun shop. #MCPDCritUpdates pic.twitter.com/4UqHdlVeEw
— Montgomery County Department of Police (@mcpnews) June 13, 2019
According to police, the two vehicles used in the burglary were reported as stolen out of Anne Arundel County.
After searching the car on Randolph Road, Jones said police “recovered three handguns” believed to have been stolen from United Gun Shop.
“We’ve also located in the neighborhood, another bag of guns that were stolen from the store,” Jones said.
Photo of guns recovered outside the suspect vehicle that was involved in the United Gun Store Burglary and Assault on the Police Officer pic.twitter.com/voBut1s2sa
— Montgomery County Department of Police (@mcpnews) June 13, 2019
Jones said a neighbor in the area has submitted a video to police, which has footage of the people involved in the burglary. Police haven’t released this video footage to the public.
Jones urges anyone else with a personal video of the incident to bring the video forward to police.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is assisting MCPD with the investigation. Amanda Hilf, a spokesperson for ATF, said ATF is also helping United Gun Shop’s business owners to perform an inventory to get information about how many guns were stolen.
Police Hold Press Conference on United Gun Shop Burglary
Fox 5 posted Jones’s full press conference on their Facebook page on Tuesday. The press conference starts around the 57-minute marker in the video.
https://www.facebook.com/fox5dc/videos/446646975881572/
Update (June 13 at 6:15 p.m.): Police released a statement saying that because of the officer-involved shooting in this incident, an officer has been placed on administrative leave, which is pending review.
“Following the established procedure, once Major Crimes detectives complete their investigation of the officer-involved shooting, the findings will be submitted to the Howard County’s State’s Attorney’s Office for review,” police say.
“An established agreement between the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office stipulates that when an officer-involved shooting involving injury or death occurs in one county, the other county’s State’s Attorney’s Office will review the event,” police say.
This incident is still undergoing investigation.
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