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Sixteen weapons are missing after a break-in at a military armory in Worcester, Massachusetts, the FBI confirms.
The missing weapons include 10 9mm handguns and six M-4 assault rifles, Army Reserve spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Tad Fichtel said in a statement.
“The US Army Reserve takes this incident seriously and is fully cooperating with the FBI, the US Army Criminal Investigation Command, and other federal and local law enforcement agencies during the investigation,” said Fichtel.
The break-in at the Lincoln W. Stoddard United States Army Reserve Center occurred late Saturday, Fichtel said, and almost a day after terrorist attacks in Paris left 130 dead.
The FBI has said there is no indication the crime was linked to any specific threat.
“There is no indication that these missing weapons are connected to any kind of terrorism threat whatsoever at this time,” an FBI spokeswoman said.
Worcester City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. said the break-in occurred between 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday. City police and the Worcester Fire Department were called to the building on North Lake Avenue at 8:39 a.m. Sunday after an employee reported seeing smoke and signs of a break-in, the city manager said.
Augustus said that while “there is no indication that the crime is linked to any specific threat, according to the FBI,’’ additional city police officers are being assigned to “several key locations throughout the community, until further notice.’’
Surveillance footage captured at the reserve center and obtained from CBS Boston showed a man standing near a black sedan in the parking lot around the time of the theft, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.
Governor Charlie Baker said the theft at the federal army facility was troubling.
“I’m especially concerned about it, separate and apart from anything that has to do with terrorism,” Baker said Monday, speaking after a hearing on substance abuse legislation. “I’m concerned about the fact that some really high caliber weapons were stolen from a military facility in the first place.”
Agencies/Canadajournal
