Two teenagers were arrested after a burglary left a gun store in Fairfax County, Virginia, with the front doors blown off its hinges and glass on the ground early Monday morning, according to police.
At 1:30 a.m. on Monday, three teens broke into Dominion Defense in Springfield, Virginia, according to police. The suspects used a car stolen in the Springfield area to break down the front doors of the store and take 21 guns, police said.
Video shows the front doors strewn on the ground after being busted down by the car with small pieces of glass shattered around them. Display cases were also broken into.
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The Fairfax County police helicopter tracked two 16-year-old suspects into Montgomery County, where they ditched some of the guns before they were arrested. Police recovered 13 guns, but eight stolen guns are unaccounted for, and one suspect is still on the loose.
"When these firearms are stolen, they're not to be taken to the range,” said Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “These firearms are stolen because they're going to be used in criminal incidents. They're going to be used to harm people in our local communities."
It was the third time Dominion Defense has been robbed in the past two years.
In April 2023, store surveillance cameras captured four masked men breaking into the store early in the morning. One of the men allegedly shot at the door to try and burst through. The thieves took 53 guns — a combination of long guns and handguns. Two Maryland men were indicted on federal charges.
In September, surveillance video showed burglars smashing a car through the glass door and then several suspects haul armloads of weapons out of the store. Police arrested seven teenage suspects — the youngest just 13.
“The increasing brazenness of these crimes concerns law enforcement here in Fairfax and federal, state, local — locally and nationally," Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said.
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