DELAND -- Alert Volusia County Sheriff's deputies discovered a handgun in a Tennessee man's briefcase during a routine security screening at the Volusia County Courthouse, DeLand, Thursday afternoon, an agency spokesman said.
Larry Dalton, 39, was subsequently arrested without incident and charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
Dalton was on his way to view a murder trial taking place that day when he went through the screening process at the courthouse entrance at about 1 p.m.
"When Dalton's briefcase went through the X-ray machine a deputy noticed an unusual object inside, but because there were so many other objects obstructing his view he couldn't tell what it was," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "The deputy scanned the briefcase a second time and his diligence paid off as he could now make out a weapon's magazine and bullets."
A search of the briefcase revealed a zippered case containing a Keltec 9 mm handgun. The gun was unloaded, but a magazine with seven rounds was in the weapon's magazine well.
Dalton was mmediately taken into custody and questioned. Dalton, who lives in Tennessee, was visiting because his cousin had been the victim in the murder trial Dalton was going to attend. He said that he brought the briefcase to the courthouse so that it wouldn't be stolen from the motel he was staying at.
Dalton told deputies that he has a concealed weapons permit from Tennessee, but deputies were not able to confirm that. He was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.