On July 7 two men allegedly tried to break into a machine gun store and did not realize the owner was inside until it was too late.
According to ABC 13, the two suspects allegedly tried to rob Class 3 Weapons around 1:45 am. The Houston Police Department (HPD) said the owner opened fire on the men with a shotgun, killing one and sending the second suspect fleeing.
HPD said the suspects had no idea the store owner was present when they allegedly began trying to enter the store.
KHOU reports that the deceased suspect was a 23-year-old male. They indicate there is some question as to whether he died at the scene or at the hospital.
The Houston Chronicle reports that burglaries of gun stores are on the rise, and many gun store owners say they sleep in their stores in order to ward off burglary attempts like the one against Class 3 Weapons.
Former gun store owner Jim Pruett told the Chronicle, “Every gun store owner probably needs to live in their gun store to protect it. It is not if they are going to burglarize you, it is when. These punks out there… they think it is easy money.”
Class 3 Weapons sells guns covered by the National Firearms Act. These include fully automatic weapons (machine gun), short barreled rifles, shotguns, and silencers.
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