>>The owner, he said, was not clear about who among the group of about eight men inside the store actually took the weapon.<<
One search warrant or eight?
Have you ever heard of Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure?
The cops didn’t have enough information, IMO, to make a decision as to who had the gun or where it was being kept.
IMHO they had sufficient information , or failed to develop sufficient information , or were consciously ignorant of sufficient information because political sensitivities were overriding the usual zealous enforcement in this jurisdiction . .
They saw the group on video. They saw one or more of the group take the shotgun. Are you saying they did not know which one of the group was keeping the shotgun so therefore they could not search the the wrong individual in the group? My, you are quite the enabler.
What's the point of having police? Just let us shoot it out among ourselves. It'll save us on taxes.