A pistol stolen during Lincoln's largest-ever gun heist surfaced during a Sioux City, Iowa, murder investigation, more than 10 years after it was taken, Public Safety Director Tom Casady said Monday.
It was unclear Monday whether the pistol was the murder weapon, but it is the latest of the 79 guns stolen from Scheels at SouthPointe Pavilions on Oct. 1, 2007, to turn up outside Nebraska following a crime.
Sioux City police said last week they recovered multiple handguns, including two stolen ones, while they searched the home where they believe a 24-year-old man was shot and fatally wounded Jan. 10.
A suspect arrested in that case has since been charged with trafficking stolen guns, according to Iowa court records.
Ten years ago, three men broke into the Scheels in Lincoln and, in three minutes, took 79 guns.Â
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That's a staggering number, especially in Lincoln, where guns are usually stolen one at a time from homes or vehicles.
Police recovered 30 of the guns the following day, arrested the burglars and quickly turned their attention to finding the remaining guns and those fencing them on the black market.
“We’re talking about a great deal of danger when these stolen guns diffuse to the four winds and we’re very anxious to recover as many as we can,†Casady said in 2007.
Fifty-five have been recovered so far, some under similar circumstances as the handgun found in Sioux City — a crime is committed, after which investigators trace the gun's serial number back to Lincoln.
Casady said stolen Scheels guns have been found by law enforcement in California, Arizona, Texas and even Mexico, as authorities investigated kidnapping, robbery, various drug crimes and even a suicide.
Ten years later, 24 of the Scheels guns remain unaccounted for, Casady said Monday.
"I doubt if they all ultimately surface."