Santa Barbara police blocked off the intersection of State and Mission streets for almost six hours Thursday after a burglar alarm was set off at the Far West Gun & Supply store, but no suspects were found inside.
Officers responded shortly after 4 a.m. to Far West Gun & Supply, 2009 State St., and determined that someone might be in the store, said Sgt. Riley Harwood. They and set up a perimeter while waiting for back-up units to arrive.
SWAT personnel, crisis negotiators and a special team from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department were called in to search the building and surrounding businesses for suspects.
They also deployed the department’s Bearcat armored unit.
Nearby residents were told to stay inside their homes instead of being evacuated.
“There was definitely, at the very least, an attempt to break in,” Harwood said. “They breached the roof.”
The audible alarm went off again as the SWAT members went in through the front door, and the alarm system also released a large amount of smoke that billowed out of the doors.
Officers also went into the attics and crawl spaces through the roof to look for suspects.
After all the buildings were searched and cleared, the barricades were lifted and forensic teams started their burglary investigation.
Nothing was taken, but “entry was made into the common attic crawlspace of the building and to at least some degree, through the interior ceiling of the gun store,” Harwood said Friday.
Noozhawk’s Giana Magnoli reported from the scene.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
