LPD: More than 100 guns stolen from vehicles this year

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - The Lubbock Police Department said the gun allegedly pointed at officers during the recent game room shooting was stolen. According to a police report, the firearm was stolen from an East Lubbock property in January of 2014.

"We've had a lot of shootings recently and the one common denominator, well there are several common denominators, but one of the big ones for us, is the firearms in the shootings," said Assistant Lubbock Police Chief Neal Barron.

"The number of these that were taken from vehicle burglaries is astounding," Barron said.

According to Lubbock Police Department statistics, 148 guns were reported stolen in 2014.

That number jumped to 217 in 2015 and 384 in 2016. Last year, 353 guns were reported stolen. So far this year, 127 have been reported stolen.

"We have recovered a lot of these, but there is still a large number of those that are still outstanding," Barron said.

According to the department, police recovered 33 guns in 2014, 45 in 2015, 37 in 2016, 46 in 2017 and 15 in 2018.

"The people that were involved in these kind of shootings don't go to the Academy Sports store and fill out a background check and whatnot to get these guns. They break into vehicles, or they walk up and down a block checking for unlocked vehicles," Barron said.

Barron wants to remind people to secure their firearms, so it makes finding guns for crimes more difficult.

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