A University of South Alabama police officer has been suspended after citing a student in an exchange regarding an empty gun holster.

D.J. Parten, a junior finance student from Mobile, was participating in a campus activity while wearing an empty gun holster on his hip.

Parten, the president of the USA chapter of Students for Concealed Carry, was participating in a week-long protest in which students around the nation are wearing empty holsters.

School officials say the police officer who cited Parten, Officer David Turppa, has been suspended for five days without pay after the incident.

"Officer Turppa and Officer Steve Gordon both apologized to the students involved," University Director of Communications and Media Relations Bob Lowry says.

University Police determined, after an investigation, that the citation should not have been issued. The citation, which ordered Parten to meet with the Dean of Students has since been rescinded.