Atlanta shootings: Teen suspect arrested

Atlanta shootings: Police have arrested a 17-year-old suspect and charged him with five counts of aggravated assault for the shootings near a high school in Atlanta.

Police say a 17-year-old boy has been charged with aggravated assault after five people were shot near an Atlanta high school.

Atlanta police officer John Chafee said in a statement early Wednesday that Marcellus Brooks faces five counts of aggravated assault.

Atlanta Police Sgt. Greg Lyon says Brooks is being charged as an adult. A judge denied bail for Marcellus Brooks during a court appearance on Wednesday morning. .

Brooks' defense attorney, Roberta Longmire, said Brooks didn't have a gun and none was found in his vicinity. Atlanta Police and Fulton County prosecutors didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Longmire covered Brooks' face with papers during his court appearance at the Fulton County Jail. She said he was in 10th grade but did not say what school he attends.

Lyon says that the five people were shot Tuesday afternoon near Therrell High School and that their injuries didn't appear to be life-threatening. Chafee says that all five were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in stable condition and that four of them are students.The Atlantic Journal Constitution reports that one patient has been treated and released, and the other patients wounded in the shooting are expected to be released by Thursday.

Police say the shooting didn't happen on school property.

Chafee says a motive hadn't been established.

The Atlantic Journal Constitution reports Brooks was arrested last month by MARTA police and charged with felony robbery for a March incident, according to court records. The teen was released on $8,000 bond after just 15 days in jail.

His trial in that case is scheduled to begin in August, court records show.

Therrell High School plans extra security and asked students not to carry any book bags or backpacks to school for the rest of the week.