Wake District Attorney Lorrin Freeman says Austin Thompson, the teenager accused of killing five people in Raleigh's Hedingham neighborhood in 2022, will plead guilty to all charges. Thompson's lawyers announced the move Tuesday morning.
The mass shooting that took place in Raleigh's Hedingham neighborhood left five people dead and two others were injured, including a Raleigh police officer. Thompson's older brother was among those killed.
Thompson, who was 15 years old at the time of the shooting, has been charged as an adult with five counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with deadly weapon with intent to kill and one count of assault with firearm on law enforcement officer. The 18-year-old's move to plead guilty will avoid a trial, which had been scheduled for Feb. 2. A sentencing hearing will still be held, but it's unclear when that will be.
Through the intended plea, Thompson “has decided he wishes to save the community and the victims from as much additional infliction of trauma as possible,” attorneys Kellie Mannette and Deonte’ Thomas wrote.
According to court documents, Thompson said he suffered a serious brain injury and cannot explain why he committed the shooting.
Because of his age at the time of the attack, Thompson could not receive the death penalty if convicted. The presiding judge would have to decide whether to sentence him on murder counts to life in prison without parole or with the possibility of parole after at least 25 years.
Prosecutors contend that Thompson shot and stabbed his brother James, whose body was found in their home.
Police also said they believed Thompson then shot multiple neighbors on the Hedingham community's streets, killing off-duty Raleigh police Officer Gabriel Torres, 29, and Nicole Connors, 52. Another neighbor who was wounded survived.
They also alleged that he later fatally shot two others on the nearby Neuse River Greenway trail: Mary Marshall, 34, and Susan Karnatz, 49.
Dressed in camouflage with multiple weapons strapped to his belt, Thompson was located by law enforcement in a shed nearby and arrested after an hourslong standoff that resulted in another police officer being wounded.
Thompson's father, Alan Thompson, pleaded guilty in 2024 to improperly storing a handgun that authorities said was found with his son after the shootings. He received a suspended jail sentence as well as some probation. Investigators seized 11 firearms and 160 boxes of ammunition — some of them empty — from the Thompson home, according to search warrants.
