Two cars were used in Friday’s ram raid of the Christchurch gun retailer Gun City, likened by neighbours to “Fort Knox” given its extensive security measures.
No arrests have been made.
One of the cars, a green Mazda Demio was left at the scene after reversing at speed into the store’s entrance four times, according to CCTV which captured the incident.
A police spokesperson has confirmed that both vehicles have been found and recovered including the second car, a black Subaru Forester.
Gun City owner David Tipple told the Herald footage from the store showed the offenders stealing an air rifle and a paintball gun.
As daylight broke, staff and contractors arrived at the shop to sweep up debris and repair the damaged roller doors.
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.
CCTV footage showed a green Mazda Demio was left at the scene after being used to breach the store’s entrance. Photo / Supplied
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.
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.
