JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Action News has learned that the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is investigating several burglaries this week in which the only items stolen from the homes were firearms.
"It's a very hot topic with us," said Officer Melissa Bujeda, JSO spokeswoman. "They want the guns. They want them whether it's for their protection, to use them or to resell them. It's definitely an issue and it's one we're concerned about."
Wayne Joyner's back sliding glass door was pried open and his Westside home was ransacked in a daytime burglary Monday.
"I had my guns just standing in the closet there," Joyner told Action News.
His firearms were all stolen and are now presumed to be in the hands of a criminal.
"Now there are guns out there. I don't know what they'll do with them. There's no telling. They might get rid of them. They might shoot somebody with them," said Joyner.
Within hours of the gun heist at Joyner's home, residents in a nearby Murray Hill home reported to police that someone broke into their house through a second-floor bedroom window. The only items stolen were two handguns and their gun safe.
Another homeowner in Oak Hill reported a handgun stolen out of his truck parked in his driveway Wednesday.
Investigators don't know if or how the crimes are connected.
"It might be someone they know or someone through the grapevine they know has told them there are guns in a certain house," said Bujeda.
