Brandishing a shotgun and outfitted in camouflage, a juvenile shooter stalked a neighborhood Oct. 13 and then fled into the woods, bringing terror to a suburban Raleigh neighborhood.
From the late afternoon into the night, a mass shooting unfolded at a residence and its nearby streets before it made its way onto a nearby trail.
It finally culminated in a shootout and a three-hour standoff a couple miles away from where it all began in Hedingham, a large residential area in northeastern Raleigh, North Carolina.
A new preliminary report, released by the city Thursday afternoon, is the first official accounting of what happened that night.
In all, seven people were shot, five of those fatally. One of those killed was the older brother of the suspect.
The report does not identify the suspected shooter, but his parents, in a statement, identified him as Austin Thompson, a 15-year-old sophomore at Knightdale High School.
“Our son Austin inflicted immeasurable pain on the Raleigh community, and we are overcome with grief for the innocent lives lost,” Alan and Elise Thompson said in a statement Tuesday, Oct. 18.
“We have so many unanswered questions,” they wrote. “There were never any indications or warning signs that Austin was capable of doing anything like this. Our family will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement officials and do whatever we can to help them understand why and how this happened.”
Lorrin Freeman, the Wake County District Attorney, said Thompson will be charged as an adult upon his release from the hospital. The suspect is currently in the hospital in critical condition, the city said in its report.
Here’s the path the shooter took and when and where victims were shot, based on the police’s report and The News & Observer’s previous reporting.
Thursday afternoon: Teen killed at home
Before the suspect exited his home and started firing at residents in his neighborhood, he killed his 16-year-old brother, the report said.
Police did not disclose the exact time that the homicide took place.
James Thompson, a junior in Knightdale High School, was found dead at his home on the 5300 block of Sahalee Way.
He was found with apparent gunshot and stabbing wounds, the report said.
5:09 p.m. Several gunshots reported
The first call received by Raleigh-Wake Emergency Communications Center reported several shots fired near the Hedingham golf course at approximately 5:09 p.m.
The shooting started in the neighborhood and ended on an outbuilding property almost 2 miles away from the neighborhood.
5:12 p.m. Two women, man shot
A 911 caller reported hearing shots and then spotted two people shot and lying on the ground near the suspect’s home on Sahalee Way.
The first person shot was 59-year-old Marcille Gardner, who was seen lying on a driveway. Gardner is currently hospitalized and is showing “great signs of improvement,” Raleigh police chief Estella Patterson said in an update this week.
Nicole Connors, 52, the second fatality, was found shot on her front porch with her dog.
Her husband, Tracey Howard, told reporters that he was running an errand at the time and was not home. When he returned home, he discovered that his wife, his dog, and Gardner had all been shot.
The third reported victim was Gabriel Torres, 29, an off-duty Raleigh police officer who was sitting in his vehicle before leaving for work at the Northeast District station, according to the report.
A 911 call also came at 5:12 p.m. from a man on Osprey Cove Drive, about a block or so away, who told the operator that “his buddy was shot,” The N&O reported.
About 5:16 p.m., another person called about Torres being shot. The caller was talking to dispatchers when she learned he was a police officer.
Police squad cars responded with lights and sirens to the scene at 5:19 p.m.
5:31 p.m. 2 more victims found
Before the shooter traveled 2 miles northeast by foot from Hedingham that Thursday night, he encountered residents Mary Marshall and Susan Butler Karnatz on the Neuse River Greenway Trail that borders the neighborhood.
At 5:21 p.m., one 911 caller reported finding two victims who were shot on the trail.
The fourth fatal victim was Marshall, 34, who was walking her dog on the trail when she encountered the shooter and was killed.
A neighbor told The N&O that he spotted Marshall chasing after her dog into the trail, where she was found unconscious by a man who called 911.
Susan Butler Karnatz, 49, a runner on the trail, was also found dead at the scene. Karnatz was the fifth fatal victim in the rampage, police said.
As 911 calls poured in, one caller described the shooter as a young white male dressed in camouflage and carrying a shotgun. He was spotted fleeing into the woods that surround the neighborhood.
Residents were told to stay inside, and nearby buildings, including schools and assisted living facilities, were instructed to lock down, the report said.
6:42 p.m. Shooter located, standoff ensues
The teenage shooter, at this point identified by multiple people as a youth armed with a shotgun and carrying a backpack, was located near two barn-like buildings by a residence on McConnell Oliver Drive.
The shooter retreated almost 2 miles from Hedingham to this area, where police said he entered one of the structures to shelter himself in an armed standoff.
6:44 p.m. Officers fire at least 23 rounds
At 6:44 p.m. law enforcement reported hearing “gunshots in the woods,” according to police scanner traffic obtained by The N&O.
As officers from multiple agencies searched the area, Thompson shot at them several times, the report said.
Raleigh police officer Casey Clark was shot and fell to the ground. He was pulled to safety by other officers who deployed cover fire, the report says.
Multiple law enforcement officers, including two RPD officers, engaged the shooter. Raleigh police believe their officers fired approximately 23 rounds in the direction of the barn-like outbuildings. The report does not detail which officers from other law enforcement agencies also took part in the standoff.
Following the shootout, officers established a perimeter to contain the suspect inside of the building. Authorities repeated commands for the suspect to come out with his hands up and to surrender his weapons.
Authorities say Thompson had multiple guns, and a 911 caller cautioned about the possibility of a hand grenade, the report said.
9:34 p.m. Shooter apprehended
Almost three hours later, officers with Selective Enforcement Unit used “tactical equipment” to figure out where exactly the shooter was inside the structure.
Around 9:34 p.m. the SEU officers approached the building and found Thompson lying inside with a single gunshot wound. Police did not specify how Thompson was wounded.
Thompson’s backpack contained “various items, including several types of shotgun/rifle ammunition,” the police report reads.
A handgun was in his waistband and a sheath for a “large knife” was found clipped to his belt, the report said. A large hunting knife was found by officers outside the building.
At 9:36 p.m., EMS personnel started treating Thompson and took him to WakeMed hospital with life-threatening wounds.
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