MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) - An inventory of surplus military rifles at the Melbourne Police Department came up one short.
Florida Today (https://on.flatoday.com/1hio0dE ) reports only 64 of the department’s 65 M16 assault rifles were accounted for in an audit that stared in December. The U.S. Department of Defense requires annual audits for agencies that receive excess military equipment.
Officials say police searched patrol cars, the area where the rifle was supposed to be stored and didn’t find it. They also put the gun’s serial number into a federal database, which also turned up nothing.
The department launched an investigation to find out what happened to the rifle and to determine procedures to keep this from happening again.
Melbourne City Manager Mike McNees says he’s working with the police chief to investigate what happened.
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Information from: Florida Today (Melbourne, Fla.), https://www.floridatoday.com
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