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.”
Which idiot let a 15 year old boy get a firearm? Dad.
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.
No gun, no shooting, no wasted lives.
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