A 12-year-old boy was arrested Friday in Baton Rouge on suspicion of plotting to kill police officers with stolen handguns, authorities said.
The preteen is the fifth person to be charged in connection with an alleged conspiracy that came to light less than a week earlier when the Cash America pawnshop in Baton Rouge was robbed of eight handguns during an overnight heist early last Saturday.
Police said previously that one of the suspects, 17-year-old Antonio Thomas, was caught at the scene and told investigators that he and three others had stolen the guns and “were going to get bullets to shoot police.”
Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie said law enforcement took the teen’s claims about shooting cops as a “very viable threat,” and worked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to launch an investigation that culminated with the arrest of the 12-year-old on Friday, the Times Picayune reported.
The child was booked into the Juvenile Detention Center on counts of simple burglary and theft of a firearm, a local CBS affiliate reported. His name has not been disclosed on account of being underage.
All four robbery suspects have now been identified by police and apprehended, as well as a fifth man accused of buying two of the stolen guns.
Malik Bridgewater, 20, an unidentified 13-year-old and Mr. Thomas have all been charged with simple burglary and theft of a firearm, WAFB-TV reported. The two adults remained in jail on $10,000 bond as of Friday, according to the network. Trashone Coats, 23, was charged with illegal possession of a stolen firearm and was released from custody Tuesday.
Police don’t believe any ammunition was stolen from Cash America, but took Mr. Thomas’s claims about plotting to shoot police seriously in the wake of the ambush in Dallas last week that resulted in the deaths of five officers.
“This was substantial, credible information that we received that was going to cause harm to police officers in the Baton Rouge are,” State Police Colonel Mike Edmonson said at a Tuesday press conference.
“Look what happened in Dallas. A very peaceful protest and some crazy mad man did what he did. So, I think the threat speaks for itself. We can’t take anything for granted anymore,” added East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux.
The gunman responsible for the Dallas ambush, Micah Xavier Johnson, reportedly told police that his killing spree was prompted in part by two fatal officer-involved shootings earlier last week, including an incident that ended in the death of Baton Rouge resident Alton Sterling.
Six of the eight firearms stolen from the Baton Rogue pawn shop were recovered as of Friday, WAFB-TV reported.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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