New security video shows burglars shooting their way into gun store

By Jennifer Borrasso

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    Pennsylvania (KDKA) — New security video showed burglars shooting their way into a Bethel Park gun store, and Allegheny Arms and Gun Works shared the video with KDKA-TV.

The video shows suspects shooting at the store’s front window multiple times, and investigators think it was kids who did it.

However, they haven’t been caught. Meanwhile, the owners don’t think the Allegheny County juvenile justice system will ever properly punish them.

In the video, a stolen vehicle pulls up to Allegheny Arms and Gun Works at 4:30 a.m., and a person shoots a gun at the front window. With the glass fractured, three others try to finish the job but are unable to get in. More shots are fired as the group attacks the armored glass.

Once inside, they take all of 45 seconds and get out with 56 guns and an armful of ammunition.

“The amount of violence used clearly demonstrates their willingness to not only again violate the law, but to cause harm to others,” said Josh Rowe, a co-owner of Allegheny Arms and Gun Works.

It’s one of at least half a dozen break-ins or attempted break-ins at local gun stores; one in West Mifflin, one in Marshall Township, and a third in Mercer County.

Sources have told KDKA that the suspects are believed to be from the Pittsburgh area and as young as 14.

“Our main concern is public safety,” Rowe said. “We don’t want to see firearms being put directly into the hands of criminals and directly in the hands of children.”

On Tuesday, Rowe said his business partner went to a juvenile hearing for an attempted break-in at their store in July. The juvenile was given community service and had to take a class. While he was waiting to get inside, he said he heard an assistant district attorney talking about a plea deal for one of the kids in the January burglary.

“He overheard one of the ADAs talking about the disposition of one of the juveniles involved in the January 14 incident and he was led to believe at that point, they were pleading the entire case down to a simple illegal possession of a firearm by a minor, which is very little more than a slap on the wrist,” Rowe said.

The district attorney’s Chief of Staff, Becky Spangler, refuted that claim in a statement provided to KDKA.

“None of the juveniles who had proceedings yesterday were involved in the January 2025 Allegheny Arms incident of any of the other such incidents currently under investigation,” the statement read. “Any confusion about the unrelated cases was dispelled by a discussion between the officers, the victim, and our assigned ADA at juvenile court.”

Rowe said the juvenile justice system is broken and that state law needs to be more robust. He also worries they may get hit again, and people might get hurt.

“We just don’t feel that Allegheny County is doing enough to handle this problem,” he said.

Rowe also said that he’s heard some of these young suspects are being released because a judge is finding them incompetent to stand trial.

“Unfortunately, resources and options to assist juveniles declared incompetent are currently limited,” said Joseph Asturi, Director of Government Affairs and Media Relations for the Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, in a statement. “In 2020, Allegheny County Juvenile Court developed and implemented a competence remediation curriculum for juveniles, which has been successful in some cases.”

State police have identified two suspects and have said that arrests are imminent in the Mercer County case.

Meanwhile, law enforcement has recovered some stolen guns and stolen cars used in these crimes, but none of the break-ins have been solved.

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