By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — An 18-year-old pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder and other charges for a mass shooting in North Carolina, acknowledging that he carried out a 2022 killing rampage 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 that authorities say began in his Raleigh neighborhood, had been poised to go on trial in state court in less than two weeks.
Instead, Thompson’s attorneys, who for months had filed pretrial motions designed to limit certain testimony and evidence, announced Tuesday that he planned to plead guilty to all charges against him. His attorneys wrote that avoiding a trial would “save the community and the victims from as much additional infliction of trauma as possible.”
Thompson, wearing a quarter-zip sweater and slacks, offered few words while Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway questioned him and 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.
Ridgeway set a sentencing hearing for Feb. 2, which could last several days as testimony and evidence are reviewed. Thompson and his attorney acknowledged in court that no plea agreement had been reached with local prosecutors.
Because of his age at the time of the attack, Thompson can’t receive the death penalty. A judge can issue sentences of life in prison without parole on such murder counts. Ridgeway instead could sentence him in the case so he could be eligible for parole after at least 25 years. State appeals judges recently placed a 40-year limit on how long such young offenders must serve before becoming eligible for parole.
Resolution in the case was delayed in part while Thompson recovered from a gunshot wound that Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman concluded earlier was self-inflicted before his arrest. His attorneys say it resulted in a serious brain injury.
Providing the court a summary of evidence that would have been used at trial, Assistant District Attorney Patrick Latour described the sequence of events during the Oct. 13, 2022, shootings. He said Thompson first shot then repeatedly stabbed his brother James, whose body was found in the family’s home in the Hedingham community.
Latour said Thompson, armed with a shotgun and handgun, next shot multiple neighbors on the community’s streets, killing Nicole Connors, 52, and then off-duty Raleigh police Officer Gabriel Torres, 29. Another neighbor who was wounded survived. Later, Thompson fatally shot two others on a nearby greenway trail: Mary Marshall, 34, and Susan Karnatz, 49.
Dressed in camouflage and carrying a backpack, Thompson was located by law enforcement in a shed nearby and arrested after an hourslong standoff during which he wounded another police officer, Latour said.
Wednesday’s hearing provided little additional explanation about Austin’s motive. His attorneys wrote this week that the brain injury “has made it such that Austin cannot explain why he committed this shooting.”
Latour said a note written by Thompson acknowledged why he killed his brother but that information wasn’t provided Wednesday. The note was ordered to remain confidential for now. Latour also said records showing Thompson’s online search history revealed that he had sought information on mass shootings and related items. A Thompson attorney said the report with those records may be challenged at sentencing.
Robert Steele, Marshall’s fiance at the time of her death, told reporters after the hearing that sentencing Thompson to life in prison without parole is the right thing to do.
“That’s justice,” Steele said. “He took five people’s lives, he tried to take two others.”
In 2024, Thompson’s father pleaded guilty to improperly storing his handgun that authorities said was found when his son was arrested. He received a suspended sentence and probation.
Investigators seized 11 firearms and 160 boxes of ammunition — some of them empty — from the Thompson home, according to search warrants. Austin Thompson and his family were avid hunters, Latour said.