RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — An 18-year-old faces life in prison after pleading guilty 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 when he changed his plea in January.
Austin Thompson is sworn in during a hearing in Wake County Superior Court on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)
Thompson 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. A sentencing hearing is set to begin on Feb. 2.
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.
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.
