Expert: 'Missile Launcher' Turned In At Gun Swap Is Carrying Case
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A drab, olive-colored tube traded in at a gun exchange and described by police as a surface-to-air missile launcher is a carrying case for an anti-tank weapon, an expert said.
John McGrath, an investigator for Raytheon Corp., used a serial number to identify the 4-foot-long tube as a 32-year-old fiberglass carrying case for a TOW missile and its launcher. The acronym stands for Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided missile, McGrath said.
"They're pretty available on the Internet," he said. "We run into a lot of this, actually."
The Ocoee man who first turned it in Friday thought it was a bazooka. Police later described it as a surface-to-air missile launcher and a rocket launcher.
The man, who was not identified because of the exchange's no-questions-asked policy, told police he found it while tearing down a shed. He exchanged it for a pair of black, size-3 Reebok sneakers for his daughter.
