Full Notification

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION
JACKSON POLICE DEPARTMENT
PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: April 9, 2014
BY: Chief Gill Kendrick

Point of Contact: Capt. Tyreece Miller 731-425-8676 [email protected]

Teen Student Will Be Tried as Adult in January Shooting at Liberty High School

A teen student charged in a January shooting on Liberty High School's campus will be tried as an adult.

Through his attorney, Jarrion Brooks, 17, of Jackson, waived his right to a transfer hearing this afternoon in Madison County Juvenile Court. If the hearing had taken place, police would have been required to prove that Brooks was responsible for the shooting.

Brooks is charged with aggravated assault for shooting another student, carrying a weapon on school property, alteration of an item with permanent distinguishing numbers because the handgun's serial numbers had been altered, and tampering with evidence.

Brooks was allowed to remain free on $20,000 bond, which had previously been set by Juvenile Court Judge Christy Little at Brooks' detention hearing.

The case will now be heard by the Madison County Grand Jury.

On Jan. 9 at 2:21 p.m., police received a call of a shooting at Liberty Technology Magnet High School, at 3470 Ridgecrest Road Extended. Officers, Madison County Sheriff's Deputies and the Tennessee Highway Patrol responded.

Shundarrion Taylor, who was a Liberty student, was transported by ambulance to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital with a single gunshot wound to the thigh.

Investigators learned that Taylor, who was then 17, and Brooks, who was then 16, had been in a previous disagreement concerning a female Liberty student. When school was dismissed, Taylor approached Brooks just outside the school's front entrance. There was an altercation, and Brooks shot Taylor, who was unarmed.

Brooks then flagged down the parent of another student. Unaware of what had just occurred, the parent gave Brooks a ride to Cotton Grove Road in Madison County.

Police quickly developed locations where Brooks could be and began checking addresses. Approximately 30 minutes after the shooting, officers took Brooks into custody at his grandmother's home on the 600 block of Cotton Grove Road.

Officers continued to search the area for the gun. Around 5 p.m., a Jackson police dog found the gun about 25 yards behind a house on the 800 block of Cotton Grove Road. The gun's serial numbers had been altered.