By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — An 18-year-old LaPlace man was arrested Tuesday after a 16-year-old he was with allegedly accidentally shot himself, according to a release from the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office.

William Daniels, of Glendale Drive, was booked with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possession of an unregistered handgun, said Capt. Dane Clement, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office. Daniels is being held at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace awaiting a bond hearing.

Deputies were called to the intersection of Bienville Street and Greenwood Drive around 10 p.m. Tuesday, where they found the 16-year-old with a gunshot wound to the hand, said Clement. The boy was treated by paramedics and later transported to University Hospital in New Orleans for treatment. His condition is unknown.

Daniels told deputies that the 16-year-old accidentally shot himself with the gun. Clement said physical evidence at the scene supports the story, but detectives have not formally interviewed the 16-year old because of his condition.

Clement said Daniels was arrested because he was in possession of a gun that was not registered in his name. Authorities would not say to whom the gun is registered or if it was the gun involved in the shooting. Clement said the investigation is ongoing.