Backpacks banned from Atlanta high school after shooting

Students at an Atlanta High school faced tough security measures Wednesday — including a ban on backpacks and book — after a teenager opened fire near campus, injuring five people, including four students.

Marcellus Brooks, 17, has been charged as an adult with five counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony in connection with the shooting Tuesday outside Therrell High School. Last month, he was charged with robbery in a criminal case, according to court records.

Four of the shooting victims were admitted to Grady Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and were in stable condition Wednesday. One was expected to be discharged Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

A student who identified himself as @NicLoves_Dinero on Twitter said that he was among those in the hospital. “Layin in this bed. Breathing I just Thank God,” he wrote Wednesday morning as he awaited surgery.

The shooting prompted Therrell High to probihit its 850 students from bringing backpacks and book bags onto campus for the final week and a half of the school year. The school also said additional security would be on hand for the final few days.

Police are still investigating a motive for the after-school attack. An Atlanta Police Department spokesman declined to comment on the case until the investigation comes to a close.

Brooks’ attorney, Roberta Longmire, couldn’t be reached. The teenager was arrested by Atlanta transit police on April 3 in connection with a robbery. A trial in that case is pending, and Brooks had been out of Fulton County Jail on $8,000 bond. Now he is s being held in jail without bond.