http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/565329.html
In a database of weapons, the gun showed up as stolen. That prompted an investigation that culminated with the student, his older brother and two other juveniles being charged with scores of weapons offenses.
Investigators said Thursday that the 15-year-old and his 21-year-old brother, Christopher Aguon, broke into a Vancouver, Wash., firearms store Nov. 30 and stole about 130 weapons within minutes. After deputies arrested the younger brother at the Spanaway school, the serial number on the revolver highlighted the connection.
“That’s a good example of why we should have a national database,” Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said Thursday night. “The sooner we can tie our databases together, the sooner these things won’t slip through the cracks.”
The investigation involved the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, the Vancouver Police Department and a Clark County task force.
Investigators said students at Bethel Junior High became alarmed last week after hearing of a gun on campus, and told a school resource officer, who notified the Sheriff’s Department. Investigators also found a weapon in a trash can near the school. The 15-year-old and two 14-year-olds were arrested and reportedly were not cooperating with investigators.
The Pierce County juvenile faces 126 counts of theft of a firearm, and charges of burglary and criminal conspiracy to traffic in stolen property, according to the Vancouver Police Department. He was being held at Remann Hall juvenile jail in Tacoma. The News Tribune commonly does not name juveniles charged with crimes.
ATF spokesman Nick Starcevic said the bureau was working with the U.S. attorney to charge the 21-year-old with federal offenses – federal courts do not try juveniles.
Two other juveniles were arrested in Clark County on related charges.
Starcevic said a combination of good investigating and good luck led to the arrests. It’s unusual to make arrests so soon on a theft this large, he said, and it was especially good since most or all of the weapons were recovered.
“It’s a good thing we were able to recover them in short order,” he said. “Now we have 126 guns that won’t become crime guns. We got lucky, to get back 126 is great.”
The store, Brightwater Ventures, reported about 130 missing weapons, and was doing an audit to see if all that were missing have been found, Starcevic said.
Bethel School District Superintendent Tom Seigel said the students brought the two guns to sell at school, and that there wasn’t a threat of violence.
But the extent of the investigation and the sheer amount of weapons are staggering, he said. And what began the investigation was involvement from students.
“We can’t hold school unless people feel secure. We take security very seriously,” he said just after hearing of the recent charges. “But the first line of defense is the kids. It’s OK for them to come forward and tell us there’s a threat.”
