Seventeen-year-old Marcellus Brooks was arrested and faces five counts of aggravated assault after allegedly shooting five people near Therrell High School in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Brooks, a tenth-grader, allegedly began shooting roughly 100 yards away from the school at around 4 p.m., which left four students wounded. All five victims were transported to Grady Memorial Hospital. None of the injuries were initially thought to be life-threatening, though one victim’s status has been upgraded to critical. As of late Tuesday, three of the shooting victims remained hospitalized. Brooks is being held at the Fulton County jail, and was previously out of custody on bond after a robbery charge.
Less than a week before the shooting, Brooks had pleaded not guilty to a felony robbery charge in Fulton County Superior Court. The teen had been arrested by MARTA police over a March 29 incident, and spent 15 days in jail before being released on an $8,000 bond. Brooks was awaiting an August trial for the robbery charge, and now faces five counts of aggravated assault, and is presently being held without bond and will be charged as an adult.
STUDENTS SHOT ARREST: Here's the mugshot of Marcellus Brooks, suspect in the shooting near Therrell HS. pic.twitter.com/h97sGJnM1T
— FOX 5 Atlanta (@FOX5Atlanta) May 14, 2014
Atlanta Public Schools and the Atlanta Police Department have provided extra security at Therrell High School, and students are no longer allowed to carry bags or backpacks through the end of the semester. Atlanta Public Schools Associate Superintendent Steve Smith reported that attendance at Therrell High was down by roughly 100 students at the 800-student school.
The wounded have been identified as Lamarcritus Wilson, 20, Domonic Clark, 17, Trevion Morgan, 18, Tekevious Redding, 17, and Morgan Evans, 15. Redding has a bullet lodged in her leg, according to mother Shavien Dennis. Dennis told reporters outside Grady Memorial, that “she (Redding) tried to run and realized she wasn’t running anymore. She was on the ground and she said blood was everywhere.”
Atlanta Police Officer John Chafee said in a statement, “At this moment the motive has not been established. Investigators are following up on information and we are progressing the investigation.”
Image via Twitter