The image above has been credited as being the firearm used in the Fort Lauderdale Airport shooting on 6 January, 2017. While the image is a little fuzzy, it appears to be a Walther PPS. You can see the distinctive trigger guard magazine release, the slot above the trigger guard and back of the rail for the serial number, the single finger groove and the shape of the extended magazine. On the rear heal of the grip: a triangular smooth area that should have the Walther banner in it, and grip is slightly relieved and smooth in a triangular area just to the rear of the trigger.
Any help on identifying this particular variant from a fuzzy photo would be appreciated. Some PPS pistols have the square hole behind the takedown slot, others do not.
The M2 version moved the mag release to behind the trigger guard. Walther PPS pistols have several magazines available. Six, seven, and eight round magazines are common in 9mm; five, six, and seven rounds in .40 S&W. The gun in the picture seems to have the seven or eight round magazine.
We do not know how many shots were fired at the airport yet. The pistol was unloaded and in a hard case and locked as required by airport security. The pistol seems to have been checked into checked baggage (not carried on the plane) properly by TSA in Anchorage. It seems a long way to go to shoot people in a baggage claim at an airport.
Baggage claim is not a sanitized area inside the secure zone, but Florida is one of a few states where baggage claim is a gun free zone where concealed carry by permit holders is not allowed.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Link to Gun Watch