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With Training and Experience, Vigilance Leads to Arrest for Pistol Possession

News & Happenings

August 11, 2008

Whether screening passengers or their luggage, TSA’s security officers remain ever-vigilant. They rely on their training, judgment and combined experience interacting with 2 million passengers a day to help steer their decisions.

photo of Shoe and Gun

In a recent example, Transportation Security Officer Stephanie Snyder discovered a .25-caliber firearm hidden inside a shoe in a passenger’s carry-on bag while she worked the X-ray at California’s John Wayne Airport on Aug. 1.

The passenger did not have a valid concealed weapons permit and denied knowing how the firearm got in his bag.

Orange County Sheriff deputies arrested the individual and charged him with two counts of violating California Penal Code – one for possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and a second for carrying a weapon into an airport.

“These types of discoveries highlight the vigilance our officers exhibit each day at every airport security operation,” said Federal Security Director Kathleen Roscher.