A west Virginia man was arrested after Transportation Security Administration officers found a loaded gun hidden in the pocket of a baby stroller he was taking through an airport security checkpoint.
It happened at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, PA on Thursday.
“Our TSA officers physically inspect strollers when they are too large to fit through the checkpoint X-ray unit and in this case, as a TSA officer was visually and then physically inspecting the stroller, he found a loaded handgun hidden in a pocket of the stroller,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport.
“That’s a good catch on the part of our officers. Just because an individual is traveling with a young child in a baby stroller doesn’t automatically mean they get a free pass at a checkpoint. It is also an example of why we do not profile travelers.”
The West Virginia man told Westmoreland County Park Police that he keeps .380 caliber handgun in the stroller when he and his family go for walks and that he forgot to remove it before leaving for the airport.
Related
“If you own a firearm, you should know where it is at all times. Not knowing that you have a loaded gun with you is an accident waiting to happen,” Keys-Turner said.
This makes the fourth gun caught at the airport so far this year. In all of 2019 when larger numbers of people were flying, only three were caught.