Two men broke into Scheels All Sports early Monday and got away with high-powered rifles, handguns and ammunition.

Police say it happened about 1:40 a.m.

A surveillance video showed how two men broke into the sporting goods store at South Pointe Pavilions and left with at least four tactical rifles, 20 handguns and ammunition, Sgt. Don Scheinost said.

Two men in hooded sweatshirts shattered the glass on the walk-in doors, pried open the security cage at the entrance, then headed upstairs to the guns, he said.

Scheinost said they were in and out within eight minutes. He said it was unclear if someone had been waiting for them outside. Update: 3 arrested, 30 guns recovered

A store alarm went off, he said, prompting a call at 1:52 a.m. from the security company to the manager, who verified the break-in and called police.

Management quickly identified four missing rifles — a DPMS Panther Bull Sweet Sixteen .223 caliber; a DPMS Panther Class .223 caliber; a Winchester LR .243 caliber; and a Lo-Pro Classic .223 caliber, according to police records.

By late afternoon, Capt. David Beggs said the store had identified 20 missing handguns — seven Glocks; seven Rugers; four Springfield semi-automatic handguns; a .44 caliber Magnum; and a Smith & Wesson revolver.

Scheinost said loss easily would be in the thousands of dollars.

The four rifles alone were valued at $4,049.96.

Scheinost said police don’t know what the motive was for the burglary — whether to use them or sell them on the street. Either way, police want to get them back.

“These are very high-powered weapons,” he said. “We are very concerned that these firearms are out on the street.”

Scheels Store Manager Kevin Lambley shared that concern. They worry about all the guns that go out their door, he said, even those sold to perfectly law-abiding people. But when it goes out of the store this way, it’s even worse, he said.

They’re working closely with police, he said, to reconcile the gun inventory and get a complete list of what was taken. And staff worked to keep business as usual for shoppers, Lambley said.

No one has tried to break in before, he said. They take all kinds of precautions to make sure attempts don’t work. Now they’ll take even more, Lambley said.

Scheinost said police would be looking at the store’s surveillance tape to see what they can get from it, and asking store employees if anyone suspicious had asked about the high-powered rifles.

“They got a significant amount of firepower out of this, so we’re actively pursuing any investigative leads,” he said.

Scheinost asked anyone with information to call police at 441-7204 or Crimestoppers at 475-3600.

Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.