Man hit high school girls playing basketball, police say

It all started with a fight in a girls’ basketball game last month at Centennial High School in Corona.

Players from opposing teams – the Centennial High Huskies and the Santiago High School Sharks – battled for the ball after a foul was called. A few players jostled.

Then, according to police, a man jumped from the bleachers, ran onto the field and hit several of the girls.

After someone else in the crowd restrained him, he walked to his car in the parking lot, pulled out a handgun, pointed it at several students and threatened to shoot them, Corona police said in a statement. He fled just before the police arrived.

On Friday, the Corona Police Department identified the man as Thaddis Brooks, 39, of Perris.

Brooks was arrested at his home on Thursday on suspicion of uttering criminal threats, brandishing a deadly weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possessing a firearm on school property and abusing children.

Booking records show Brooks is being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside in lieu of $350,000 bond and is due in court Monday.

According to San Bernardino County Superior Court records, Brooks has multiple felony convictions.

He pleaded guilty in 2006 to assault causing grievous bodily harm, and he pleaded guilty in 2009 to making criminal threats. He also pleaded guilty to several drug possession charges over the years.

During a search of Brooks’ home in Perris on Thursday, authorities found no firearms, the police department said in a statement.

Corona Police Sgt. Jason Waldon said in an email to The Times on Friday that Brooks was “related to a player on one of the teams” playing in the Jan. 24 game at Centennial High School. He said the police department did not name which team.

Waldon said Brooks injured three girls, ages 16 and 17, on the basketball court.

“While in the parking lot, the suspect pointed his handgun at several other female students and threatened to shoot them,” Waldon said. These girls, he said, were between 13 and 17 years old.

The Corona-Norco Unified School District said in a statement Friday that the girls’ basketball game was in the fourth quarter when the scrimmage began.

“This incident has been extremely upsetting and we want to make it clear that CNUSD does not advocate any behavior that threatens the safety of our students, staff, or community,” the district said.

The district said it will implement additional security measures at indoor sporting events, including increased law enforcement and staff presence and metal detectors. No re-entry will be permitted for those exiting, and bags will be subject to search.