Across Georgia

Police say boy took bomb to his school

FAIRBURN - A ninth-grader at a private school has been arrested on charges that he took an explosive device to school.

A teacher found the device Monday under the bleachers at the football field during field day activities at Landmark Christian School, Fairburn Police Capt. J.T. Rogers said.

School Headmaster Matt Skinner said school officials alerted authorities after it was found.

About 600 pupils in grades pre-kindergarten through 12 were evacuated.

Capt. Rogers said the Fulton County Sheriff's Office bomb technician who disassembled the bomb said the device had "minimum potential of causing any type of serious damage."

The student placed the device as a joke, Mr. Skinner said.

2-year-old dies after attack in parking lot

COVINGTON - A man accused of driving a car that struck two sisters and their three small children, killing one, outside a McDonald's restaurant hit them intentionally, authorities said Wednesday.

The car struck the five, hit the restaurant, then backed up and hit them again Tuesday, police said. All five were hospitalized, and a 2-year-old died Wednesday.

Lanny Barnes, 46, faces five felony charges of aggravated assault and was ordered held without bail Wednesday pending a mental health evaluation.

Flashing lights signal charge against driver

WINTERVILLE - An Oglethorpe County man allegedly trying to wriggle out of a traffic citation Monday afternoon at Winterville City Hall was arrested and accused of impersonating a firefighter and operating flashing lights on a vehicle without a permit.

Mark Lanier Brady, 31, claimed he was a member of several rural fire departments, according to a police report.

Police said that earlier Monday they had issued Mr. Brady a traffic citation for operating flashing red-and-amber lights on his truck without a permit.

State law prohibits the use of such emergency-type flashing lights without a proper permit.

It also prohibits using any blue light, whether flashing, strobe or stationary, without a permit.

Man from Texas found dead in pool at motel

SAVANNAH - Police are investigating the drowning of a Texas man in a Savannah motel pool.

Onyeka Alams, 24, was found face down in the pool at the Quality Inn on Gateway Boulevard Monday morning, according to a Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police report.

Violent crimes detectives are investigating the drowning, but it appears to be accidental, police spokesman Sgt. Mike Wilson said.

- Edited from wire reports