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Police are urgently searching for four people they allege stole a firearm and ammunition from an unmarked police car in Townsville in the early hours of this morning.
Officers said the group arrived at an accommodation apartment block on Wills Street in a silver Holden Commodore with fake number plates about 3:30am.
They allegedly forced entry to the secure complex and broke into five vehicles parked there, including an unmarked police vehicle.
The police vehicle had firearms and ammunition securely stored in it, which the offenders allegedly gained access to.
Police alleged the offenders stole a black BMW sedan and fled the scene in the vehicle, as well as in the Commodore they arrived in.
The alleged break-in occurred on Wills Street in Townsville. (ABC North Qld: Cameron Simmons)
The offenders allegedly rammed the secure gate of the complex's car park as they fled the scene.
"Police are currently undertaking a significant operation to try and bring those offenders into custody and to locate the firearm and ammunition," Townsville District Officer Chief Superintendent Graeme Paine said.
Chief Superintendent Paine refused to go into detail about the make and model of the stolen police-issued firearm, citing operational reasons for not revealing the manner in which it was stored.
"A firearm is a firearm from our point of view," he said.
"They have managed to get through the security that we had around the storage of the firearm and the ammunition.
"We haven't identified any increased risk to the public at this point but anyone who's carrying a firearm or ammunition in public is a significant concern."
Police have vowed to investigate how the alleged offenders managed to thwart the security of the firearm storage.
They did not believe the police vehicle was targeted or that the incident was a case of juvenile crime.
Police said the two stolen vehicles could be travelling together, and urged anyone who may have seen them in and around Townsville city this morning to contact police.
"If anyone sees the vehicles, please provide that information to triple-0," Chief Superintendent Paine said.
"Whether they be travelling individually or in convoy, if [people] have any dash cam footage or CCTV footage from the area, they could either contact their local police station or PoliceLink."