Raleigh Teen Pleads Guilty in 2022 Mass Shooting

Raleigh, North Carolina, teenager Austin Thompson pleaded guilty on Wednesday to five counts of first-degree murder in a 2022 mass shooting that killed five people and wounded two others in the city's Hedingham neighborhood. The 18-year-old, who was 15 at the time of the attack on October 13, 2022, also admitted to two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of assault on a police officer with a firearm. Thompson faces sentencing on February 2 in Wake County Superior Court, where he could receive life in prison without parole, though the death penalty is not an option due to his age during the incident.

Prosecutors described how Thompson began the rampage inside his family home by shooting and stabbing his 16-year-old brother, James Roger Thompson. He then emerged armed with a shotgun and handgun, dressed in camouflage, and fired at neighbors on the streets of the Hedingham community. Among the dead were 52-year-old Nicole Connors and off-duty Raleigh police Officer Gabriel Jesus Torres, 29, who was en route to start his shift when he encountered the gunman. Another neighbor, Marcille Lynn Gardner, was wounded but survived.