ELIZABEHTON — The Carter County Sheriff's Department has announced that 46 of the 47 guns stolen in the burglary of a Stoney Creek gun shop have been recovered and two individuals have been arrested following an undercover operation late Friday night. The names of the individuals have not been released.
Sheriff Mathes said in a press release that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation assisted in the investigation.
The guns were stolen from the Blue Springs Gun Shop. Proprietor Melvin Gray Oliver told investigators that he and his wife, Moira Joan Oliver, went to church that morning.
Mrs. Oliver said she and her husband went to different churches that day. She said she left the residence at 9:30 a.m. and when she returned around noon, she found the garage door open.
When she went inside, she said she noticed the gun cabinets had been emptied and all the handguns were missing. She then went outside and waited for her husband to return.
Mr. Oliver said when he went into his office, he noticed most of the shotguns and rifles were missing from where they had been placed on the walls. He noticed the face plate on the front of his safe had been torn off and approximately $1,000 in cash and checks were missing.
When they checked the rest of the residence, the Olivers said they found the back door slightly open and three shotguns lying on the kitchen counter next to the back door.
Sgt. Larry Vaughn and Investigator James Stevens found pry marks on the rear door and the lock.