Authorities Wednesday increased the award money for information that could lead them to whoever was responsible for stealing 31 police guns from the old Compton City Hall building.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives hiked up the award to $20,000 after initially announcing a $10,000 award in March. The ATF says the guns were probably stolen sometime between March 6 and August 31, 2017.
"As we have witnessed through countless school and community shootings, guns in the hands of the wrong people can lead to devastating consequences," Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said in a statement. "By offering this reward, we hope to help the ATF recover these guns before they can be used, and get to the bottom of how they came to be missing."
The guns, which belonged to the Compton Police Department, were being stored in a vault at the old city hall building at 600 N. Alameda St. after the department was dismantled in 2000 and duties overtaken by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The LASD conducted an inventory of the guns in March 2017. The Compton City Council, "determined LASD should take control of the firearms until a final adjuration was made on whether the Compton Police Department would be restored," the ATF said.
When the LASD transferred the guns to its vault on August 31, 2017, the department discovered that 23 Beretta .40-caliber pistols and eight Glock .40-caliber pistols were missing.
"We are looking for any leads," said Ginger Colburn, a spokeswoman for the ATF, which is conducting the investigation.
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Anyone with information is asked to call the bureau at 1-800-ATF-GUNS or the ATF Long Beach office at (818) 265-3760. Anonymous tips can be submitted at 1-888-ATF-TIPS.
