Shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina

Five people, including an off-duty police officer, have been shot and killed in Raleigh, North Carolina after an active shooter situation. Four injured victims, including one of the responding officers, are receiving treatment at a level one trauma center, and one police dog was shot and injured as well.

They were shot in a residential area in east Raleigh, in the area of the Neuse River Greenway. People in the neighborhood reported calling 911 after hearing gunshots.  Some witnesses saw the suspect walking and crouching down in backyards before the shooting. The area is heavily wooded, so the suspect was able to disappear into the greenway behind the neighborhood after shooting multiple people.  There are not many details on what exactly happened yet, other than the off-duty cop was shot while sitting in his car outside his home.

The suspect was reported by witnesses to be a white teenage male with a long gun, wearing camouflage, black boots, and a backpack. Police have contained him in a barn or residence in the area, but he is not in custody yet.

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He was arrested.

"15yo suspect has open wound to skull showing brain matter. Breathing at time but has numerous other wounds. Being checked out now."

Yeah, I saw that shortly after I posted this but didn't update the post. I'm hoping to hear more details about the shooting itself too, nothing has really been said yet.

Apparently, reddit's found our guy. He's named Austin Thompson.

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Yes, and apparently one of the victims who died was his older brother, James. I’m guessing that’s how this began, but the details are still scarce. The news is still saying the shooter is still in the hospital.

Statement from the shooter's parents

“Words cannot begin to describe our anguish and sorrow.

“Our son Austin inflicted immeasurable pain on the Raleigh community, and we are overcome with grief for the innocent lives lost. We pray for the families and loved ones of Nicole Conners, Susan Karnatz, Mary Marshall, and Raleigh Police Officer Gabriel Torres. We mourn for their loss and for the loss of our son, James.

“We pray that Marcille “Lynn” Gardner and Raleigh Police Officer Casey Clark fully recover from their injuries, and we pray for everyone who was traumatized by these senseless acts of violence.

"We have so many unanswered questions. 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.”

Definitely reminiscent of the Klebolds' and Harris' statements after 4/20/99.

Also, the police have released the timeline of the shooting.

Here's the timeline of the events from Thursday, October 13, 2022:

5:09 PM:  911 is called about shots fired near the neighborhood.  Additional calls start coming in.

5:12 PM:  Another 911 calls reports shots, and two individuals lying on the ground and the porch of a house.

A few minutes later (no exact time given), another call comes in to report that an off-duty police officer was shot while sitting in his car in his driveway.  The shooter was wearing camouflage clothing.

5:19 PM:  First Raleigh PD officers arrive at the scene.

More calls come in, saying that the shooter was a young white man with a shotgun who was running towards the woods behind the neighborhood.  Officers are shown a photo of the shooter taken by someone in the neighhorhood.

5:21 PM:  911 call reporting two individuals down on the greenway behind the neighborhood.

6:42 PM:  Officers locate the shooter in a barn-like outbuilding.  He fired multiple shots towards the officers while he was inside.

6:44 PM:  A Raleigh PD officer is struck by a bullet coming from the building.  Officers begin cover fire while he's dragged to safety, they fire about 23 rounds.

After this, officers establish a perimeter to contain the shooter inside the building.  They give repeated commands for the suspect to come out with his hands up and surrender his weapons.

9:34 PM:  Selective Enforcement Unit officers advance toward the building after using tactical equipment to determine the exact location of the shooter inside the building and identify his weapons.  They found the suspect lying down with a single gunshot wound, wearing camo clothing and backpack with a handgun in his waistband.  His backpack contained shotgun and rifle ammo.  On his belt was a sheath for a large knife, which was found at the front of the building.  A shotgun and shells were on the ground near him.

9:36 PM:  Officers handcuff the suspect and he's taken to the hospital by EMS.

I've been meaning to update this post because there have been a few developments.

Some of the officers' body camera footage has been released from the moments one of the officers was shot by Austin Thompson from the outbuilding:

Body camera 1
Body camera 2 (from officer who was shot)
Body camera 3

Some more details that have come to light:

1. It appears that Austin shot and stabbed his older brother (16 years old) James Thompson inside their home first before going outside and killing 4 more neighbors and wounding 2.

2. It was reported on November 11 that Austin had been released from the hospital and taken straight to a juvenile detention center.  He will reportedly be tried in adult court and his first appearance will probably be sometime soon.

3. It still seems unclear whether Austin's gunshot wound to the head was self-inflicted or caused by police.

Picture of Austin Thompson in the barn after his gunshot wound

(Warning: it's bloody but very blurry so you can't see much)

symbolz wrote:

Picture of Austin Thompson in the barn after his gunshot wound

(Warning: it's bloody but very blurry so you can't see much)

"Are ya winnin', son?"

NEXT STEP UP wrote:

symbolz wrote:

Picture of Austin Thompson in the barn after his gunshot wound

(Warning: it's bloody but very blurry so you can't see much)

"Are ya winnin', son?"

I hate that this made me laugh