Posted: Nov. 15, 2018 12:11 p.m. ET - Updated: Nov. 15, 2018 7:25 p.m. ET

By: Andy Slater

Heat center Hassan Whiteside had a bizarre incident over the summer involving a high-powered gun.

According to exclusively-obtained police reports, Whiteside bought a $50,000 Colt M16 assault rifle, ammunition, a rifle bag, and a silencer at Johnson’s Firearms in Miami on July 5.

Whiteside went directly from the gun store to the University of Miami for a workout.

As he practiced in the Hurricanes gym for about an hour, Whiteside left his Rolls Royce unlocked.

The next day when Whiteside got home, he noticed that his rifle bag and weapon were missing.

Whiteside called police.

Whiteside told detectives that he had only been at the gun store, Watsco Center, and then to his Miami Beach home.

After reviewing surveillance video, Coral Gables police determined that the gun was not stolen on campus, as he believed. Whiteside was the only person seen to go in and out of his unlocked $400,000 car.

About two weeks later, Whiteside and his attorneys spoke with detectives. During that conversation, Whiteside remembered that he had left the just-purchased rifle unattended in his unlocked car when he went back inside the gun store.

It was determined that the gun was stolen at that time, and not on UM’s campus.

On July 23, the gun and ammunition were found in a stolen vehicle in North Miami.

The silencer was later located as well.

Whiteside has previously posted images of himself at a gun range on social media.

Late Thursday, Whiteside released a statement that read: “I have a license for the gun that was stolen from me over the summer. I should have secured it better and I’m glad it was recovered. It won’t happen again. It is now locked in a safe and I only use it at the gun range.”

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