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That front sight looks too tall for an SKS. And the weapon itself is too tall to be an SKS. No bayonet or lug to be seen either.
Note the 30 round mags taped together. You can buy 30 round mags for the SKS, but I don’t believe they’re easy to swap where one would tape two mags together. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.
IMO, he seems to be using an AK semi-auto clone, probably an AWB-compliant version since there’s no lug. I think the pictures in the news story were probably stock photos of an SKS, not the actual weapon.
The height of the front sight sure looks like an AK.
That sure looks like an AK to me: remarkably tall front sight, with frame & furniture which rides rather high above the barrel too.
SKS doesn’t have a sight that high with comparable body rising above the barrel.
AKs are the kind of thing a murder-minded idiot would get for such a task. SKS is relatively obscure outside relatively serious shooters.