She used a dead woman's ID to steal a submachine gun from a Texas gun range, cops say

Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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Nearly five days after the heist, a wanted woman who police say stole an automatic machine gun from a Texas shooting range has been found and arrested, officials announced Tuesday.

Amber Herring, 25, faces multiple felony gun-related charges in connection to the May 5 afternoon gun theft at LoneStar Handgun Shooting Range in Converse, about 15 miles northeast of downtown San Antonio.

According to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, investigators "diligently worked to identify Herring, who was seen on surveillance at LoneStar Handgun Range giving a false name, before renting and then leaving the gun range with the automatic submachine gun."

A wanted woman who police say stole an automatic machine gun from a Texas shooting range last week has been found and arrested, officials announced on May 9, 2023. Amber Herring, 25, faces multiple felony gun-related charges in connection to the May 5 afternoon gun theft at LoneStar Handgun Shooting Range in Converse, about 15 miles northeast of downtown San Antonio.

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According to an alert the store owner sent out on Monday, the suspect entered the store and rented a handgun to use on the firing range. Several minutes later, the alert reads, she rented an MP5 submachine gun. But instead of walking to the shooting range, the woman walked out of the store, got into a white Ford Ranger and drove off.

The Texas driver's license given to rent the firearms was "from someone who was killed in a car fire in December 2022," store officials wrote in the alert. They said the woman looked similar to the dead woman on the ID.

"We have policies in place to prevent theft to include trigger locks on rentals, valid ID kept during the rental and credit card use for the transaction," a store officials wrote. "The employee that rented her the firearms did not follow company policy and accepted cash for the rental."

Prohibited possession of a machine gun

Through the course of the investigation, sheriff's office investigators said they located the suspect at a residence in eastern Bexar County.

truck LoneStar Handgun Shooting Range store officials say was used in an automatic gun theft on May 5, 2023 in Converse, Texas. Police announced on May 9, 2023 they arrested Amber Herring, 25, on multiple felony gun-related charges in connection to the theft. (Photo: LoneStar Handgun Shooting Range)
truck LoneStar Handgun Shooting Range store officials say was used in an automatic gun theft on May 5, 2023 in Converse, Texas. Police announced on May 9, 2023 they arrested Amber Herring, 25, on multiple felony gun-related charges in connection to the theft. (Photo: LoneStar Handgun Shooting Range)

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Herring remained in custody Wednesday the Bexar County Jail on charges including possession of a prohibited machine gun and felony theft of a firearm.

The case remained under investigation on Wednesday, officials said.

Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Woman suspected of stealing machine gun arrested in Texas