A Glock 22 handgun has been either stolen or lost from a south-east Queensland police station.
The police-issued Glock 22 went missing from the Yamanto police station in Ipswich some time between June 25 and July 18 – a period of more than three weeks.
Police have been unable to find the missing weapon, despite extensive efforts and believe it is either lost or stolen.
Police officers were told about the unaccounted-for gun late this week, but an alert was not issued to inform the public.
The Glock 22 is a semi-automatic pistol and a favourite of law enforcement agencies.
After inquiries from Fairfax Media, a Queensland Police spokeswoman confirmed police were investigating.
The spokeswoman said the gun was missing from the Ipswich scenes of crime office in the Yamanto police station.
"The Glock model 22 was left at the premises prior to an officer commencing leave on June 25," she said.
"Upon returning to duty on July 18 the officer has been unable to locate the firearm.
"Police have carried out extensive searches but have been unable to locate the weapon."
An internal investigation regarding the loss of the gun has begun.
The spokeswoman urged members of the public with knowledge about the gun to come forward.
"Members of the public who have information about the location of this weapon may not know the significance of such a piece of equipment and are urged not to tamper with it, and call people or hand it in to their nearest police station," she said.
It is understood there is a safe for officers to securely store guns within the office.
"Police have carried out extensive searches but have been unable to locate the weapon."
Fairfax Media asked the QPS where the gun was missing from, whether any officers have been disciplined or stood down, whether it was believed a member of the public or a police officer stole the Glock and why the information was not released to the public, but the questions went unanswered.
An LNP spokesman said it was extremely concerning a police weapon had gone missing.
"The fear is that it could fall into the wrong hands and we now hope for a quick recovery," he said.
A spokeswoman for Police Minister Mark Ryan said it was incredibly concerning a police weapon had gone missing.
"I hope that the whereabouts of the missing firearm is resolved as quickly as possible and I know the Queensland Police will continue to investigate this matter until resolved," she said.
In June 2015, a QPS gun went missing in Woodridge, after it dislodged from a holster while an officer was attending to an incident, and passed between several people before being recovered.
This story first appeared on Brisbane Times.
