Baltimore Police Capture 2 Men In Gun Shop Thefts

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Almost three dozen guns were taken off Baltimore streets and two brazen bandits are behind bars.

Christie Ileto explains how the dangerous weapons made their way to Baltimore.

Baltimore streets will never see these lethal weapons after a team of police caught a pair of brazen bandits looking to sell them illegally.

Tuesday morning, police seized 29 guns with a street value of more than $14,000. Police say they caught Michael Faircloth and Garrett Sherlock with the stolen, out-of-state weapons on North Carroll Street.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Stephen Wilson. "I think it's tragic that this happens."

Wilson works just steps from where officers spotted the suspects.

Police caught up with Faircloth and Sherlock at Rt. 40 and North Chapelgate. Police say the suspects were coming from Pennsylvania after burglarizing a gun store in Saxton the day before.

"It's kind of out of the way, not very many people around," said one area resident. "You run, do the damage, grab what you're trying to get and make off."

Baltimore Police recover thousands of stolen, misused guns every year. But following the Newtown school shooting, Police Commissioner Batts says it's even more crucial to keep illegal weapons off our city streets.

"I sat in yesterday on a presentation with a Connecticut police chief, who had to deal with the death of 26 of his residents. You see the guns there but you don't see the bullets," said Batts. "How those bullets tear the flesh."

While state leaders push to toughen Maryland's already strict gun laws, police say these 29 guns represent lives saved.

Police also recovered two boxes of ammunition, 12 rounds of loose ammunition and six Ziploc bags of what officers say is cocaine.