An 18-year-old has pleaded guilty to murder and other charges for a mass shooting in North Carolina that left five people dead, including his older brother and a police officer. Austin David Thompson, who was 15 at the time of the attack in his Raleigh neighbourhood, entered the plea on Wednesday, less than two weeks before he was due to stand trial in state court.
Thompson's attorneys announced on Tuesday that he intended to plead guilty to all charges, saying that avoiding a trial would "save the community and the victims from as much additional infliction of trauma as possible." Wearing a quarter-zip sweater and slacks, Thompson offered few words as Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway accepted his pleas. He pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of assault of an officer with a gun.
Judge Ridgeway set a sentencing hearing for Feb. 2, which could last several days. No plea agreement has been reached with local prosecutors. Because of his age at the time of the attack, Thompson cannot receive the death penalty. The judge could impose life in prison without parole, or sentence him to be eligible for parole after at least 25 years, though state appeals judges recently placed a 40-year limit on how long such young offenders must serve before becoming eligible.
Assistant District Attorney Patrick Latour described the sequence of events during the Oct. 13, 2022, shootings. He said Thompson first shot and repeatedly stabbed his brother James, whose body was found in the family home. Thompson then shot multiple neighbours, killing Nicole Connors, 52, and off-duty Raleigh police officer Gabriel Torres, 29, and wounding another. Later, he fatally shot Mary Marshall, 34, and Susan Karnatz, 49, on a nearby greenway trail. Thompson was found in a shed after an hourslong standoff, during which he wounded another officer.
Thompson's attorneys have said a self-inflicted gunshot wound caused a serious brain injury, meaning "Austin cannot explain why he committed this shooting." Latour said a note written by Thompson acknowledged why he killed his brother but did not explain further. Robert Steele, Marshall's fiancé, said after the hearing that sentencing Thompson to life in prison without parole is "justice." In 2024, Thompson's father pleaded guilty to improperly storing a handgun and received a suspended sentence. Investigators seized 11 firearms and 160 boxes of ammunition from the family home.
