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Weapons Stolen from US Army Reserve Center


Charlie Flick
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Charlie Flick

Multiple media sources are reporting the burglary of weapons from the Lincoln Stoddard Army Reserve Center in Worcester, Massachusetts over the weekend. Some sources have said that 16 weapons are missing including M4 full auto rifles as well as pistols. The FBI is investigating the theft.

 

Here is the Boston Globe article on it:

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/11/15/fbi-investigating-worcester-army-reserve-break/2U9dZs6R5VApiNi30hvxHN/story.html

 

Regards,

Charlie

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Wow...That's brave....Or maybe the correct word is stupid. If they catch them, they are in for it. Not only possession of a full auto, but stolen full auto...and stolen from the Army at that.

 

I hate to speculate, but I wonder if this is one of those "borrowed for the weekend" kind of things. Some idiot thinking he'll slip them out, have some fun camping in the mountains, and slip them back before anyone notices. But, that would probably only be a single rifle or two...

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I want to know how thieves were able to break into an Army Reserve Center and steal weapons. That fact really bothers me. Why weren't these weapons better protected?

 

...Kat

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405th Combat Support Hospital USAR. Literally 250 feet from UMASS Memorial Medical Center University Campus

 

 

First the facilities have alarm systems wired to local PD - you can only disable them once inside and only the Cdr, XO, 1SG and AGR* staff have the keys and the codes to the Alarms.

Second Supply rooms are locked areas inside the facility & require a second alarm system and very secure locks

Thirdly Arms rooms have 2 Separate locking systems and another hard wired alarm (JSIIDS was one) that can only be disabled once inside within a few seconds otherwise it goes off automatically.

Finally arms racks, containers are chained with very heavy duty welded link chains to the walls and have locks on each rack of 10 rifles (many times the racks themselves are also bolted to others so you cant steal a rack to open later.

All Keys are unmarked for weapons racks, secure rooms and not in sequential order, Key rings themselves are welded so keys cannot be easily removed.

All this is designed to slow thieves down until Local LEO can arrive


*AGR (Active Guard Reserve) Soldiers who belong to the Guard/Reserves but are full time soldiers. Usually the Supply Sergeant, Readiness Sergeant, Administration Sergeant. in a small Company size Armory
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Wow...That's brave....Or maybe the correct word is stupid. If they catch them, they are in for it. Not only possession of a full auto, but stolen full auto...and stolen from the Army at that.

 

I hate to speculate, but I wonder if this is one of those "borrowed for the weekend" kind of things. Some idiot thinking he'll slip them out, have some fun camping in the mountains, and slip them back before anyone notices. But, that would probably only be a single rifle or two...

Camera Captures Man Stealing Guns From Worcester Armory

 

On Monday, law enforcement officials said surveillance cameras caught the man believed to be behind the break-in.

 

Police are looking for a light-skinned man between 5’7”-5’10” tall with a stocky build. He was wearing a white t-shirt and a dark colored vest.

 

Also caught on surveillance was the man’s car, which appears to be a newer model dark colored BMW hatchback with dark rims.

 

SOURCE-http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/11/16/worcester-stolen-guns-army-reserve-center-fbi/

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Camera Captures Man Stealing Guns From Worcester Armory

 

 

 

So if all of the safety features you mentioned in your other post are in place at facilities, how did this guy steal all of these guns?

 

....Kat

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US Military Guy

 

405th Combat Support Hospital USAR. Literally 250 feet from UMASS Memorial Medical Center University Campus

 

 

First the facilities have alarm systems wired to local PD - you can only disable them once inside and only the Cdr, XO, 1SG and AGR* staff have the keys and the codes to the Alarms.

 

Second Supply rooms are locked areas inside the facility & require a second alarm system and very secure locks

 

Thirdly Arms rooms have 2 Separate locking systems and another hard wired alarm (JSIIDS was one) that can only be disabled once inside within a few seconds otherwise it goes off automatically.

 

Finally arms racks, containers are chained with very heavy duty welded link chains to the walls and have locks on each rack of 10 rifles (many times the racks themselves are also bolted to others so you cant steal a rack to open later.

 

All Keys are unmarked for weapons racks, secure rooms and not in sequential order, Key rings themselves are welded so keys cannot be easily removed.

 

All this is designed to slow thieves down until Local LEO can arrive

 

 

*AGR (Active Guard Reserve) Soldiers who belong to the Guard/Reserves but are full time soldiers. Usually the Supply Sergeant, Readiness Sergeant, Administration Sergeant. in a small Company size Armory

 

You sound like you know what you are speaking about - and you are completely correct!
Have you ever heard of a computer program called KIRS (Key Inventory and Reporting System)? It is a program written to account for the keys in a military organization. It was developed in the Iowa Army National Guard and then distributed through National Guard Bureau to the other states. It was written in - maybe 1999 or 2001. I can't remember which.
I wrote it just prior to my retirement. :)
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I'm thinking it's an inside job maybe from someone who worked there and was aware of the security protocols? I find it very hard to believe you can just go in there blind not knowing where to find what your looking in a short amount of time without setting off immediate alarms. (At least I hope it's not that easy). With everything going on, this guy picked the worst possible time to pull a stunt like this, assuming he's not looking to do any harm with them.

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First the facilities have alarm systems wired to local PD - you can only disable them once inside and only the Cdr, XO, 1SG and AGR* staff have the keys and the codes to the Alarms.

Second Supply rooms are locked areas inside the facility & require a second alarm system and very secure locks

 

Thirdly Arms rooms have 2 Separate locking systems and another hard wired alarm (JSIIDS was one) that can only be disabled once inside within a few seconds otherwise it goes off automatically.

 

Finally arms racks, containers are chained with very heavy duty welded link chains to the walls and have locks on each rack of 10 rifles (many times the racks themselves are also bolted to others so you cant steal a rack to open later.

 

All Keys are unmarked for weapons racks, secure rooms and not in sequential order, Key rings themselves are welded so keys cannot be easily removed.

 

Well that didn't work. Wonder what human error was the Achilles heel?

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It scares me a bit. I don't see someone risking the potential punishment related to stealing weapons from the government without meaning to do some harm with them. Time will tell.

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This has to be an inside theft. The oridinary dumb rump would have tripped alarms and would have gotten caught in the act. Where the hell would he sell those full auto weapons? If that wasn't their plan, then it has to be their use for some dastardly deed. I hate to think what that might be!

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US Military Guy

I probably should not bring this up - but . . .

 

After spending over 13 years as an AGR Supply Sergeant, I can tell you that accomplishing this task is not all that difficult.

 

Obviously, I will not get into details, but - trust me - it was something I worried about on a daily basis.

 

I retired in 2001, so it was a different "world" back then. Perhaps the flaw in the system has been fixed. Lord knows I tried to get it fixed back then.

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When I was in the reserves, I noticed that only the local cops responding to the alarm from an arms room break in was the only deterrent most of the time. Frankly, I'm surprised this doesn't happen far more often, especially in armories in areas near gang activity.

I'd heard on TV that there was some construction going on there at the same time, I wonder if it was one of those people?

 

And don't forget, breaking into national guard armories used be the primary way that thrill killers and bank robbers got weapons back during the depression. How else do you think Bonnie and Clyde had BARs on them when they got filled full of lead?

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So if all of the safety features you mentioned in your other post are in place at facilities, how did this guy steal all of these guns?

 

....Kat

My info was work at the armory was being done with a Hammer Drill and the vibrations kept setting off the alarm so it was disabled.

 

Now without setting up guards overnight or re enabling the alarm system the Unit Commander failed to observe proper physical security procedures

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My info was work at the armory was being done with a Hammer Drill and the vibrations kept setting off the alarm so it was disabled.

 

Now without setting up guards overnight or re enabling the alarm system the Unit Commander failed to observe proper physical security procedures

 

Oh-Boy, Somebody doesn't have a career any more, and may end up in the big house.

BKW

 

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My info was work at the armory was being done with a Hammer Drill and the vibrations kept setting off the alarm so it was disabled.

 

Now without setting up guards overnight or re enabling the alarm system the Unit Commander failed to observe proper physical security procedures

 

I have seen nothing else in the news regarding the break-in. Where are you getting your "info" about the break-in?

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There were two M16s and a starlite scope stolen from a guard unit here when I was a kid.They never were found.Rumor has it they are still here in the area locally.No one was ever caught or procecuted and this happened around 1975.

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I have seen nothing else in the news regarding the break-in. Where are you getting your "info" about the break-in?

 

I heard the exact same thing about the alarms being turned off due to construction on the TV news (out of Seattle). I hadn't heard the exact tools they were using that led to this, but Linedoggie isn't the only person who's heard this info.

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Not "terrorism," they say, but I think it's even more frightening that a lone nut with an ankle monitor was able to breech the security.

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