Two vehicles were used in Friday’s ram-raid of the gun retailer, likened by neighbours to “Fort Knox” given its extensive security measures.
No arrests have been made.
One of the vehicles, a green Mazda Demio, was left at the scene after a CCTV camera captured it being reversed at speed into the store’s entrance four times.
A police spokesperson has confirmed both vehicles involved in the incident have been found and recovered. The second vehicle is a black Subaru Forester.
The CCTV footage showed the Forester was used as a getaway vehicle, which four offenders drove off in after stealing product.
“Police are following strong lines of inquiry into the four people believed to be involved in the incident,” the spokesperson said.
“[We are also] working hard to recover the stolen items.”
Gun City owner David Tipple told The New Zealand Herald footage from the store showed the offenders stealing an air rifle and a paintball gun.
The Redwood store, the largest of two branches in Christchurch, is built between two shops: Complete Outdoors, which sells outdoor gear, and bike store EMega.
EMega owner Jeremy Joseph told the Herald his outlet had initially felt safer being next to a gun shop, given how strenuous Gun City’s security measures were.
“It’s like a fortress,” he said.
“You look at the security [the offenders] had to go through. We thought it was impenetrable. We looked at the big bollard in front and thought ‘no way’.”
On the other side of Gun City, the Complete Outdoors shop was pulled into the early morning chaos when its window was smashed during the break-in.
Manager Malcolm Bell was one of the first on the scene after the ram-raid and spoke highly of Gun City’s protection measures.
“The store is extremely secure,” he said.
“It’s like Fort Knox, I was really surprised they got hit as [Gun City] pays attention to security.”
A door connecting Bell’s store to Gun City took “serious stuff” to get through, according to Bell, with a roller door and locks securing it.
“You can’t just stick up a gun shop. [The offenders were] very determined. I understand the entrance got bashed several times to get through.”
Like EMega and now his neighbour, Bell’s shop has also been burgled - although not as much was stolen.
He said one of the biggest hits for owners can be the inconvenience.
“You’ve got hundreds of thousands of products to account for. They’ll be going through all the invoices, working through it with insurance companies and it could take five months to go through,” he said.
“That’s mass inconvenience for you.”
* Anyone who might have seen the Mazda Demio, registration DDF311, or the Subaru Forester, registration LCY783, early Friday morning is asked to call 111 and reference the case number 221202/5373.
-By Nathan Morton
