Truck rams gates to Gun Emporium entrance in Tullamarine
A SEMI-TRAILER ploughed through the steel gates to an entrance of a Tullamarine gun store, just hours before a Thornbury firearms store was raided by masked bandits yesterday.
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A SEMI-TRAILER ploughed through steel gates to an entrance of a gun store in Melbourne’s west yesterday morning.
CCTV footage obtained by the Herald Sun captured the moment thugs rammed the front entrance to Gun Emporium in Tullamarine at 3am.
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But workers claim the shop’s high security measures scared the alleged offenders off.
The attack occurred just hours before masked offenders armed with sledgehammers and a gun stormed O’Reilly’s Firearms in Thornbury and fled with more than 65 handguns.
It is not yet known whether the two incidents are linked.
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Gun Emporium manager Bruce Wellington said the store deliberately did not stock handguns.
“Criminals want handguns because they’re easily hidden,” he said. “But we don’t stock them in store to avoid potential robberies.”
He explained if someone wants to buy a handgun, store workers must check for a gun licence and criminal history.
“It’s not as simple to just walking in and asking to buy one,” he said. “We even check for a licence before we allow people to hold the guns.”
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Gun Emporium accountant Anna Raschella said Monday was the first time the shop was involved in an incident and put it down to heavy security measures.
“We have roller doors, CCTV cameras everywhere and an alarm system to notify us if someone is inside,” she said.
“The store also has a bunker which is highly secured.”
Store workers told the Herald Sun how the shop has emergency buttons installed behind the counters.
“If someone does come in and try to rob us, we have buttons we’re able to press and it notifies police right away,” Mr Wellington said.
“Our shop is full with the highest measures to prevent any type of robbery.”
Victoria Police confirmed they had received a report a truck had hit the fence about 3am on Monday and said it was treating the incident as criminal damage.
“It is believed a person driving a truck has reversed in to the cyclone fencing,” Acting Sgt Melissa Seach said.
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“The truck, a flat tray tow truck, then drove away north towards Sharps Rd.
“There was no attempt to break in to the premises and the investigation remains ongoing.”
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the latest robberies were “very concerning, particularly noting there were five dozen guns that have been illegally stolen”.
“It is like we are living in the wild west with gun robberies and jewellery thieves,” Mr Guy said.
“For anyone to say we do not have a major problem with crime in this state, they have their head stuck in the sand.
“Daniel Andrews is the worst law-and-order Premier in our state’s history.”
Police urged anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers.
— with Alex White