Police in Colorado Springs have issued a summons to a 64-year-old man stopped by security at the city’s airport Monday morning after a loaded pistol was found in his coat pocket.
William Skeith Jr. has been charged with possession of a weapon at the airport, police said.
Skeith was stopped by Transportation Security Administration agents during a screening after a .380 caliber Ruger was found in his pocket. The TSA says seven rounds were loaded in the gun, including one in the chamber.
TSA agents alerted police who seized the weapon and took Skeith into custody.
“This is the third firearm discovered by TSA officers at the (Colorado Springs airport) security checkpoint so far this year,” the administration said in a news release.
Six guns were found at the airport in 2014.
“TSA has the authority to levy a civil penalty against a passenger who brings a firearm to the checkpoint,” the release said. “The average penalty for a loaded firearm is $3,000; for unloaded, it’s $1,500.”
At Denver International Airport, seven firearms have been seized so far this year.
TSA said DIA, where 70 firearms were seized in 2014, sat at the nation’s airports last year.
“Passengers always say they just forgot that it was in their bag,” Ross Feinstein, TSA’s press secretary, told The Denver Post last year. “It never ends up being something nefarious, but passengers end up paying the price.”
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
