Gwinnett County

Excavator driven into gun store in attempted burglary, police say

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County police are looking for a man who hijacked a front loader from a construction site and tried to break into a gun store.

The owner of Bullseye Indoor Range and Gun Shop on West Crogan Street in Lawrenceville said someone tried to drive an excavator into his store early Tuesday morning.

Channel 2's Liz Artz obtained surveillance video from outside, which police said shows a man casing the store.

The owner said someone took the excavator from a nearby pavement site at about 3:15 a.m. after a contractor left the key inside it.

Police said the man who stole it from a nearby lot had to learn to drive it first. Surveillance video shows that at one point, it almost looks like he called someone on a cell phone while stalled in the middle of the street.

The video shows it took the man more than 20 minutes to operate the arm of the excavator and smash into the business.

He tried to drive into the storefront, but was stopped by a chain fence on the inside of the store.

Police said the man did not get inside, but that if he had, he would have possibly had access to thousands of weapons.

The store owner said Gwinnett County police arrived quickly.

A witness told officers she saw the man running from the scene as a patrol car was arriving.

Longtime neighbors watched in disbelief as the store was boarded following the incident.

“The idea that someone would calculate something like this is really it's shocking. I mean, here in downtown Lawrenceville, (I’m) not accustomed to this type of activity. I’m speechless," Jamica Bell, who lives nearby, said.

Police are still looking for the suspect.

Officers say several people drove by during the attempted break-in, but no one called 911.