Strong leads are being followed to track down the offenders who ram raided a Gun City store in Christchurch overnight, police say.
Officers attended the burglary at the store in the suburb of Papanui at 2:30am on Friday.
A stolen Mazda Demio was left at the scene and the four offenders fled in a black Subaru Forrester, police said.
Some products, including a paintball gun and an air rifle, were reportedly stolen.
In an update later on Friday morning, Det Snr Sgt Damon Wells said multiple leads were being followed to locate the offenders.
"We understand the concern around events involving firearms," he said in a statement.
"Police are treating this seriously and are pursuing a number of leads to identify these offenders and locate the items they've stolen."
Following the burglary, the offenders fled south down Cranford St, Wells said.
"We hope that someone may have seen them and has information that can assist the investigation," he said. "We would ask motorists who were in the area at the time to check their dashcam footage and for anyone who may have seen either of these vehicles to get in touch with us."
The Gun City ram raid came just hours before officers were called to another burglary at a store on nearby Marshland Rd.
A police spokesperson said the three offenders broke into the store with mallets at about 5:20am. Shortly after, they left the scene in small black car - possibly a Suzuki Swift.
The spokesperson said an investigation was underway into whether the burglaries were linked.
"It is not yet known if the events are linked however, in both cases, CCTV is being reviewed and police are following lines of enquiry to apprehend the offenders."
It comes as New Zealand grapples with a wave of ram raid burglaries. In Christchurch, 80 local businesses this week wrote an open letter to the Government calling for an urgent response to the city's crime - saying the focus was all on the North Island.
"There's no consequences for them," said Christchurch Central City Business Association chair Annabel Turley. "They're literally getting a slap on the hand and, 'Don't do it again.'"
