A radio reporter for KDKA was arrested yesterday morning and accused of trying to take a loaded handgun into the Allegheny County Courthouse.

The county sheriff's office said reporter Rob Milford was stopped at 9:25 a.m. after a .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver was found in his briefcase at a courthouse screening station.

Sheriff William P. Mullen said Mr. Milford told officers he didn't realize he had put his gun in his briefcase. Mr. Mullen said the gun was not reported stolen, and ATF was in the process of tracking to whom it is registered.

Mr. Milford was charged with carrying a firearm without a license and entering a court facility with a firearm.

"It's very early, and we're looking into it," said KDKA Radio program director Marshall Adams.

Mr. Milford, 53, of Castle Shannon, was at the courthouse to cover the East End rapist trial, Mr. Adams said, and he emphasized that there was no undercover effort on the part of the radio station to test courtroom security with a concealed weapon.

It was the second incident in a week in which a person with a loaded gun was stopped at the courthouse. On Thursday, 22-year-old Shadina Garner, who was to be a witness in a case, was stopped with a .32-caliber handgun in her purse.