Pistol Truck Terrorist Used to Shoot Police in Italy: Erma .22?

Image from the sun.co.uk:

The pistol used by the German truck attack Jihadi looks a lot like a Walther. But it is a clone, probably made by Erma Werke.  The Erma 552S is nearly identical, but without markings, it is not certain. There is also an Erma RX-22, which has a shorter extractor, a longer grip, longer slide and barrel, and an eight round magazine. Clones of the Erma 552S were made and sold by Iver Johnson as the TP22. I have had a couple of them, and they have a reputation for reliability and accuracy. The sights are fixed, so consider yourself fortunate if they are on the money. Of the two that I shot, one was on, one was not. An avid pistol competitor friend had one he thought highly of. The magazine holds seven rounds.

American Arms sold the PX-22. It is virtually identical, but has "DESIGN BY ERMA WERKZ" on the frame, and the serial number on the right side.  The Erma pistols have the serial number on the left side, as does the TP22.  I have seen both wood and plastic grips on the Erma versions.

Erma and Iver Johnson also made a .25 ACP version.  Erma Werke  made an 8mm blank firing version. The extractor on the blank firing version is shorter, so I doubt that this is a converted blank firing gun.

It has been reported that this was a .22 caliber version, by the Daily Mail. From the dailymail.co.uk:

When the patrol approached him, he pulled a 22 calibre pistol from his backpack and shot one of the two police officers, Cristian Movio, 36, in the shoulder.

The Itallian police were working as a pair. The wounded policeman's colleague Luca Scatà, was a rookie officer. Scatà returned fire and killed the Jihadi.

The .22 rimfire has been used to kill a significant number of people. In this case, the officer's wound was not life threatening.

 ©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

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