Raleigh Teen Shooter to Plead Guilty in 2022 Five‑Killing Rampage

Attorneys for Austin Thompson, now 18, have notified a Wake County, North Carolina court that he intends to plead guilty to all charges in the Oct. 13, 2022 Raleigh mass shooting that left five people dead — including his 16‑year‑old brother — and two others wounded. Thompson was 15 at the time of the attacks in the Hedingham neighborhood and along the Neuse River Greenway trail, where victims included off‑duty Raleigh police Officer Gabriel Torres, 29, and residents Nicole Connors, 52, Mary Marshall, 34, and Susan Karnatz, 49. His lawyers say he "has always accepted that he did this" but that a serious self‑inflicted gunshot wound causing brain injury means he cannot explain his motive; they previously signaled plans to pursue diminished‑capacity and prescription‑medication intoxication defenses. Because he was a juvenile when the crimes occurred, Thompson is ineligible for the death penalty, and the judge will later decide at sentencing whether he receives life without parole or life with the possibility of parole after at least 25 years. Prosecutors had prepared to argue at a February 2 trial that the killings were "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" and that Thompson tried to evade capture, but the plea — if accepted — will spare victims’ families a full trial while shifting the focus to a detailed sentencing hearing.