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Zurich police foils gun shop burglary attempt

ZH: new burglary in a gun shop failed
ZH: new burglary in a gun shop failed Keystone-SDA

The Zurich cantonal policearrested two men in Pfungen, near Winterthur, who were trying to rob a gun shop. Thefts in such businesses in Switzerland have multiplied recently.

A police spokesman confirmed to Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA what had been reported by various news portals. In Pfungen, handcuffs were snapped on the wrists of a 52-year-old Slovakian and a 24-year-old Frenchman. Around 05.00 hrs, the alleged criminals smashed the shop window with a vehicle. Around 50 guns were stolen from the same business during a burglary at the end of May, the spokesman added.

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Today’s operation required a large deployment of forces, the police explained in a note issued in the afternoon, as one of the arrested criminals claimed to have deposited a dangerous object at the scene of the crime. For this reason, the adjacent railway line was also closed. During the inspection of the area, however, nothing was found and shortly after 08.00 hours the situation returned to normal.

Thefts in gun shops have increased in recent days. The investigation started today will among other things try to establish whether there is a connection between these incidents and today’s incident.

On July 17, unknown perpetrators stole guns in Altstätten, canton St Gallen. On July 21, criminals broke into gun shops in Gossau (St Gallen) and Evionnaz (canton Valais). In the case in Valais, two suspects were caught within a day. A third person is still at large.

Adapted from Italian by DeepL/ds

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