UPDATE: One of the four people hospitalized after being shot near Therrell High School Tuesday is now in critical condition, according to hospital spokeswoman Denise Simpson. One patient will be discharged at some time today and the other two will be hospitalized at least through Thursday, Simpson said.
The fifth person shot was treated and released Tuesday.
ORIGINAL STORY: The 17-year-old Therrell High School student accused of shooting five people near the southwest Atlanta school on Tuesday was out on bond for robbery, authorities said.
Marcellus Brooks pleaded not guilty less than a week ago to a felony robbery charge, according to Fulton County Superior Court records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Brooks was arrested last month by MARTA police in connection with a March 29 incident, and released after 15 days in jail on $8,000 bond, according to jail records.
Court records show he was awaiting an August trial for that charge Tuesday when police arrested and charged him with five counts of aggravated assault for the alleged gun attack near the school.
This morning, less than a day after the shootings, a new normal greeted students at Therrell.
Atlanta Public Schools and the Atlanta Police Department provided extra campus security, and students were not allowed to bring backpacks.
“As a safety precaution,” APS spokeswoman Kimberly Willis Green said, “… students will not be permitted to carry book bags or backpacks for the remainder of the school year.”
Atlanta Public Schools Associate Superintendent Steve Smith said Wednesday’s attendance was down by about 100 students at the 800-student school. He reported that all the people shot received non-life threathening injuries. Channel 2 Action News identified the wounded as Lamarcritus Wilson, 20, Domonic Clark, 17, Trevion Morgan, 18, Tekevious Redding, 17, and Morgan Evans, 15.
Meanwhile, Brooks was ordered held without bond at his first appearance in court this morning. Brooks’ attorney, Roberta Longmire, sought unsuccessfully to waive his first appearance and then tried to shield his face from media cameras by holding documents in front of him. Brooks joined the effort by raising his cuffed hands to his face. He is being held at the Fulton County jail on five counts of aggravated assault. His next court appearance is scheduled for a 9:30 a.m., preliminary hearing May 28.
Investigators have not determined why Brooks allegedly shot the five near Therrell High around 4 p.m. Tuesday, Officer John Chafee with Atlanta police said.
“At this moment the motive has not been established,” he said in an emailed statement. “Investigators are following up on information and we are progressing the investigation.”
The shooting occurred in the area of Panther Trail and Childress Drive, Chafee said.
The five people shot were transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, according to police. All were in stable condition before one patient was treated and released, hospital spokeswoman Denise Simpson said.
One patient is scheduled to be discharged this afternoon. Three others were expected to remain in the hospital at least until Thursday, Simpson said.
Police declined to release the names of those shot. But Shavien Dennis told reporters outside Grady that her 17-year-old daughter, Tekevious Redding, was shot and still has a bullet lodged in her leg.
“She tried to run and realized she wasn’t running anymore,” Dennis said. “She was on the ground and she said blood was everywhere.”
Redding, a senior at Therrell and the mother of a baby, had just left campus on her final day of school before graduation rehearsals, Dennis said.
Although the shootings did not happen on campus, Therrell High School was placed on lockdown for students participating in after-school activities, Green said. The school system later said on Twitter that all afternoon activities were canceled at Therrell.
One student told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he and his brother saw a group of more than 20 students running. Then, the two heard at least five gunshots. The brothers ran to a nearby gas station, where they told a woman in a car to call 911.
— Staff photographer Ben Gray and staff writer Mark Niesse contributed to this article.
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