FERRIDAY &045; Ferriday investigators are trying to determine if the Friday afternoon gunshot fired at Ferriday High School was accidental or not.

Edward Parker, 58, Louisiana 900, No. 715, Clayton, was arrested Friday based on evidence that he was the owner of the gun. Regardless of why the shot was fired, Ferriday Police Department Chief Investigator Richard Madison said Parker broke the law when he brought the gun on school property.

Parker, a bus driver, was involved in a fight with Brandon Carter, 19, near the gym behind the school just before school dismissed. Carter is not a student at FHS. No one was injured by the gunshot.

&uot;During the course of events the gun jammed,&uot; Madison said. &uot;We don’t know whether he was going to fire again or not. But we do know you can’t have a firearm on school grounds.&uot;

Parker, who was first transported to the hospital, was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and carrying a firearm on school grounds.

Carter and Parker had already had one disagreement earlier in the day, Madison said, and when the two met by chance at FHS, things escalated. The two men are acquaintances. Carter and his mother were stopping by the school to pick up something when they met Parker.

In the scuffle, Carter received scratches to his face and Parker’s injuries required 16 stitches.

Once the shot went off, teachers and administrators at the school responded. Teacher Stephen Collins broke up the fight and disarmed the gun, Madison said.

&uot;The investigation is ongoing,&uot; Madison said. &uot;We are taking statements, and we do know that there were several students on the football team who observed the altercations.&uot;

Madison said officers were in the process of getting the necessary parental permission to interview the football players and some students in a class near the area of the fight.

&uot;We’ve established ownership (of the gun,&uot; Madison said. &uot;But we are talking about a man’s career on the line, and there are holes we still have so we are in the process of closing the gaps.

&uot;It would be nice to know from testimony if he pointed (the gun) at the subject.&uot;

Parker was suspended from his job as a bus driver Friday afternoon, and Superintendent Kerry Laster said he would remain suspended until the close of the police department’s investigation. The school district will review Parker’s job, pending results from FPD.