Over 20 guns stolen from gun range in Oak Forest

OAK FOREST, Ill. (CBS) – Nearly two dozen guns were stolen from an Oak Forest gun shop.

The suspects used a stolen car to smash into the shop before taking off. CBS 2's Marissa Perlman found out this wasn't the first time guns have been stolen from the shop.

Five years ago, a group of thieves stole about 40 guns from the same store and threw a cinder block through a window to get access inside.

This time, the suspects drove a stolen car right into the wall. Both times, the crimes were caught on camera.

Oak Forest police released surveillance photos showing the suspects wearing stocking caps and masks. Police said a group of four men drove into the Eagle Gun Range building just after 3 a.m. on Monday.

They got inside and stole 23 guns before taking off. No one was inside the store in those early morning hours.

Crews were working into the evening on patching up the wall where the thieves drove into the shop.

The range has been a target for thieves in the past.

In 2017, three thieves used a brick to smash a window, stole 40 guns and stuff them into backpacks before making a getaway.

A former New York police sergeant and City of New York University criminal justice professor as tracked the sale of illegal guns. He said the store being hit twice in a five-year period should put police on alert for copycat crimes.

"The most concerning part of this is that you've had a location now hit twice. So not only this location, but every gun store within 100 miles, they should be looking to harden these targets," said Joseph Giacalone. "Police should be going to these gun stores to identify weaknesses to try to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Giacalone added the weapons can be traced by their federal firearms serial number. He said the problem is the guns won't be found by police until they're already on the street and in the wrong hands.

"There's this thing called a 'community gun' where they use them. They keep on passing them along," he said. "And the guns go out even further from where they're actually stolen from."

On Monday, police found the stolen car that had been used to ram the building to get inside.

But so far, no arrests have been made.

Call Oak Forest police if you recognize the suspects in the surveillance video.