Audacious Heist and Robbery of a Canadian Gun Shop

On Sunday March 2, 2014 at 2:20 am, there was an audacious smash-and-grab heist of a gun store in Hamilton, Ontario - the crooks used a stolen car to ram through the front doors of the closed and locked shop and then three masked and hooded men quickly plundered firearms and fled on foot. The entire scene, like something out of a Grand Theft Auto video game, was captured on the store's video surveillance cameras. On Sept. 17, Hamilton Police Service released the video to aid in their investigation. This is that video. The gun shop that was hit is a venerable firearms dealer in Hamilton, Al Simmons Gun Store, at 122 Locke Street South. The three bandits made off with several long guns but the weapons were found soon after by police. Their plan was pretty creative, in sense, and may have sounded foolproof when they cooked it up: The car they chose was a perfect fit for the door, they wore gloves, masks, they brought a large hockey bag that they presumably had imagined they would be calmly filling with a large stash of expensive and powerful guns when they mapped out the job But in the end, these guys seem to be amateurs. Smart planners, but didn't really seem to have the parts to pull it off well. They look really spooked once they bust in, scampering and scurrying around in a panic, grabbing anything and bolting out of there, falling over each other as they flee; they even left behind their hockey bag. That's one important clue as police look to figure out who they all are. The bag is black with white trim featuring a stitched Pittsburgh Penguins logo on it along with the number 9 and red staining. Plus, the effort and stress was all for nothing, as they ditched the guns during their flight. Video Credit: Hamilton Police