[norton]

The mall photo is so weird that questions are unavoidable.

If the carbine were not there I'd swear he was drinking a beer.
And, unless I'm fooled by the perspective, what appears to be a long, removable, magazine is too far forward to be in place.

But the mall photo is not an SKS.
The published shots of an SKS really do look like something out of an on line auction - which I wouldn't take as anything amiss unless they stated that it was THE mall weapon.

Odds are huge that even an AK variant was semi-auto in any event.

[Grut]

And, unless I'm fooled by the perspective, what appears to be a long, removable, magazine is too far forward to be in place.

I lightened up the photo with GIMP but I haven't any way of posting the results. There're so many JPEG artifacts it's hard to say for sure but I think his left hand is grasping and pushing forward on the sling, not the forearm, and the sling's what's sticking down and forward. No guarantees, though.

[Tijeras_Slim]

http://entimg.msn.com/i/150/mo/mo5/ishtar_cast_150x200.jpg

There is audio of some shots on a 911 call, it sure wasn't an auto.