MARYSVILLE – Police are seeking up to six gun-toting bystanders, some of whom reportedly shot at two shoplifters and their car as they were fleeing the Coastal Farm and Ranch store Saturday.

Both shoplifting suspects, ages 22 and 23, are in custody, but the citizens who shot at them left before police arrived, reports say.

“We are asking that those who fired contact MSVL police to provide us a statement as to what they saw,” a Marysville Police Department tweet says.

Another tweet says the armed citizens confronted the shoplifters, and two tires on the suspect car were shot. Marysville police Cmdr. Mark Thomas said it’s unclear if the citizens fired their guns lawfully. “Anytime you’re firing a weapon in a public place, especially a few days before Christmas in a crowded parking lot, it is a grave concern,” Thomas said.

Shooting out the tires, however, certainly helped in the capture as their car was abandoned a few blocks away. The pair fled on foot into a neighborhood. Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies and police from Arlington and Lake Stevens assisted. K-9 Steele found one hiding under a tarp. Everett K9 Bendix found the other hiding under some bushes.

The police report says the two men allegedly stole four nail guns, valued at $400 apiece, from Coastal in the 9600 block of State Avenue. They planned to pawn them for money.

The men, from Mukilteo and Everett, were booked into the Snohomish County Jail under investigation of first-degree theft.