Three men arrested after shots hit school

Chicot Elementary School was put on lockdown Tuesday morning after a barrage of shots fired on the campus struck two buildings, authorities said.

In a statement sent to parents at approximately 11:17 a.m., Chicot Elementary Principal Sherry Chambers said six bullets struck the school. Little Rock Police Department spokesman Lt. Michael Ford confirmed that three people were arrested over the shooting.

Though the school was in session at the time, no children were in buildings hit by gunfire, a school official said.

Ladarius Deshun Williams, 20; Clifton Shelton, 18; and Kortez D. Parker, 18, were arrested just after 10 a.m. Tuesday, within 15 minutes of when the gunshots hit the two buildings, according to arrest reports.

Williams faces charges of aggravated assault, possession of a handgun on school grounds and 10 charges of committing terroristic acts, according to an arrest report.

All three men were in the Pulaski County jail with no bail set as of Tuesday evening, according to the jail’s roster.

Shelton faces charges of aggravated assault, breaking and entering a vehicle, theft of property, possession of a handgun on school property and 10 charges of committing terroristic act, per police reports.

Parker faces charges of possession of marijuana with the intent to sell or distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, an arrest report said.

Ford said a bullet hit a portable building on the school’s campus just before 10 a.m.

Little Rock School District spokesman Pamela Smith said Tuesday that multiple bullets hit a second building near the rear of the campus.

Smith said she did not know the exact use of the second building, but said it was not the school’s main facility.

Williams told police officers that he had been at the school and was holding a handgun, but that someone else had fired the shots, according to an arrest report. Officers reported that both Williams and Shelton were on school property when the shooting began.

Police said Parker was with the other men at the time of the shooting, but was not charged with firing a gun. Officers reported finding 86 grams of marijuana, a handgun, multiple magazines and extended magazines in Parker’s home.

Smith said the school immediately went into lockdown when the shots were fired and enacted the crisis communication plan — a protocol that includes bringing all students and staff members inside the main building and ensuring that police, security officials and parents were made aware of the situation.

Smith said police officers arrived on the scene in “maybe two minutes.”

“It didn’t have anything to do with the actual campus,” Smith said. “We’re prepared to maintain safety protocols every day. This happened in the community. We’re just thankful that no one was injured in our school or on our campus.”

Chicot Elementary School is in southwest Little Rock near the Rob Roy Way and Yorkwood neighborhoods.