Investigators believe juveniles charged with killing Kyle Yorlets could be linked to at least five stolen vehicles, illustrating what Nashville police have called a "greatly concerning combination of minors, stolen vehicles and guns."

Yorlets was standing outside his Torbett Street home Thursday afternoon when he was fatally shot. Police have charged five young people, ages 12 to 16, with homicide in the case.

As detectives collected evidence, a familiar pattern emerged.

They linked the case with at least five vehicle thefts. At least three of those vehicles were stolen with the keys left inside.

Two guns police said they recovered from the suspects both came from stolen cars. Police recovered a third gun connected with one of vehicle thefts before the shooting took place.

In an email, police spokesman Don Aaron listed five vehicle thefts from across Middle Tennessee and Kentucky that he said were linked to the case.

A 2012 Chevy Equinox stolen Wednesday afternoon on 40th Avenue North with the keys and a pistol inside. It was recovered Thursday.

A 2007 Mazda 6 stolen Wednesday evening from a Nashville gas station with the keys inside. It was recovered Thursday near Yorlets’ home.

A 2006 green Ford Focus stolen Wednesday evening on Gwynnwood Drive near Briley Parkway with the keys inside. It was recovered Thursday morning. Police said the juvenile driver was carrying a stolen gun from the red pick-up truck linked to the case.

A 2015 red Chevy Colorado truck stolen early Thursday morning from Oak Grove, Kentucky. Investigators believe suspects in Yorlets’ death were in the truck before the shooting. It was recovered Thursday night.

A 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe stolen from Brentwood. It was recovered outside the Walmart where the suspects were arrested Thursday night.

Car thefts have been a longstanding focus of the Nashville police department's Juvenile Crime Task Force. From the time the task force launched in February 2018 to Feb. 2 of this year, the task force had recovered 188 stolen or carjacked vehicles and seized 206 guns.

Often, police have said, thieves steal unlocked cars with guns inside, creating a pipeline that puts more illegal guns in young people's hands.

"It just escalates. It goes from something that was once viewed as something of a simple crime that now is becoming much more frequent and violent," said Lt. Blaine Whited, the supervisor of the juvenile crime task force in Nashville. "These cars are essentially becoming that mode that allows for these other crimes to occur."

Two days after Yorlets died, police said they found another example of the same trend.

On Saturday afternoon, officers charged eight young people, ages 13 to 16, with vehicle theft and other charges after police said they spotted the juveniles near a stolen car. The car had been left running at an East Nashville gas station with two pistols and a rifle inside.

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A 13-year-old arrested near the car was carrying a gun that was taken from another vehicle on Feb. 1, police said.

In a statement on Yorlets' death, Mayor David Briley drew attention to the role gun owners can play to prevent similar crimes.

"Young people have easy access to guns in our city, and that must stop. In this case, I understand that both guns were stolen when left unattended," Briley said. "As a society we must do all we can to secure legal guns and to get the “crime” guns out of the hands of criminals, especially, our youth."

The Davidson County grand jury has previously urged lawmakers to take action to prevent gun owners from leaving their firearms unsecured. In a report issued last year, the grand jury that sat from July to September lamented the number of guns stolen from unlocked cars.

"It’s as if civilians are asking for their guns to be taken," the report read. "While we are not excusing someone from stealing, shouldn’t gun owners be held to a certain standard as to ensure their guns are only used by the intended owner and kept in a place as to not be so accessible?"

Whited said police focus efforts on encouraging people to secure their guns and never to leave their car running unattended. Following that advice could have an exponential effect on violent crime, he said.

"This entire problem that we're having could be solved if, simply, firearms were not accessible and stolen cars were not accessible," he said. "If you don't have these two items, those crimes don't occur."

Brentwood police Chief Jeff Hughes thought the problem was widespread enough that he invited numerous law enforcement agencies to "an urgent meeting" Monday to discuss juvenile car thefts and guns. Hughes proposed the meeting on Thursday, before details from the Yorlets case had emerged.

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Yihyun Jeong contributed to this report.

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and atamburin@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @tamburintweets.