UPDATE (dated May 3): The ATF said the “majority” of firearms have been recovered.

INDIANAPOLIS — At 3:11 a.m. Sunday, a trio of thieves in command of a carjacked SUV battered the front door of Beech Grove Firearms in the 3000 block of South Emerson Avenue, breeching a roll-down steel door, entering the store, smashing two glass display cases and escaping 40 seconds later with four dozen revolvers and 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistols in what the owner, a veteran police officer, said was no fly-by-night raid.

”It’s pretty targeted what they go after. They don’t look around, its not like, ‘Hey, let’s check out what we’ve got. Let’s, bam, get this and go,’” said Greg Burge. ”This was not a surprise visit, rather, we know where we’re going, we know what to expect inside, we know what we need to use to get in there, and once we’re in there, we know exactly what we’re taking.”

Burge and his staff are conducting an inventory of the stolen guns and checking surveillance videos to determine if the thieves had ever visited the store before.

The SUV had been carjacked on East Washington Street several hours earlier.

”They gave it hell. They got through and then to the damage,” said Burge. “They took a size 11-foot and crammed it in a size eight boot.”

Burge said he was encouraged that the investigation by Beech Grove and Indianapolis police, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, would soon result in arrests and the recovery of some of his stolen firearms.

”These firearms are deadly, plain and simple. It cannot be debated, when in the hands of the wrong person, which I’m pretty sure these were not collectors,” said Burge. ”I have no doubt that these will be in the criminal hands. I hope that none of these 48 find themselves where they cause life, serious bodily damage, anything to any other person.”

The ATF refused comment on the investigation beyond confirming that it was working with Burge to determine the extent of the loss and advises all gun store owners on how to improve security.

Burge said he may place large concrete barriers outside of his store as well as sinking a bollard into the cement walkway to the front door while admitting there was little he could do to enhance internal security.

”It took these individuals to go carjack the 3,000-pound tool, and as you’ll see in the video, it wasn’t easy for them,” he said. ”I have concrete bollards out there that they took a 3,000-pound tool to defeat it. What can I really do in here to harden?”

Burge put the financial loss of the weapons in excess of $30,000 and property damage losses at $60,000.

The Beech Grove Police Department confirmed that a 16-year-old juvenile has been arrested and charged in connection to the carjacking. The burglary investigation remains ongoing.