Burien police detain suspect in attempted gun heist at Big 5

Deputies have detained a man at a Big 5 Sporting Goods in Burien where police say he crashed a van and tried stealing the store’s gun supply early Tuesday morning.

The King County Sheriff’s Office said deputies arrived to the scene in the 100 block of SW 148 and found a smashed up store front, guns and ceiling tiles scattered across the floor, and heard a voice overhead.

At least one suspect was thought to be hiding in the store’s ceiling.

“When deputies went inside, they saw that a bunch of ceiling tiles had been moved,” Sgt. D.B. Gates told KIRO Radio.

Gates said that led deputies to believe that they were dealing with a burglary, not a traffic accident.

King County Sheriff’s tactical robots went inside the business to assess the situation. Outside, negotiators used a loudspeaker to try to contact anybody inside.

“We’re concerned that there are firearms inside that building as well as ammunition,” Gates said.

A man was detained around 10:30 a.m. about four hours after the crash was reported at Big 5. Deputies scoured the area for other suspects, but no other arrests have been made.

Deputies reportedly recovered 14 guns in or near the suspect’s vehicle. KING-TV reports the suspect, who may have been under the influence of drugs, drove up and down the aisles once inside the store.

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