A 15-year-old boy suspected of carrying out a mass shooting in Raleigh that left five dead—including a police officer and a teenager—remains in critical condition, authorities said Friday.
At a news conference, Raleigh Police Chief Estella D. Patterson said off-duty officer Gabriel Torres, 29, “was on his way to work” when he was killed in the shooting.
The others killed were identified as Nicole Connors, 52, Susan Karnatz, 49, Mary Marshall, 35, and 16-year-old James Roger Thompson. Patterson did not provide details about the relationship between the suspected shooter, described as a white male, and any of the victims.
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“We don’t have answers as to why this tragedy occurred,” Patterson added. She said two people were injured but survived the attack—one of whom was another Raleigh police officer who has been treated and released from the hospital. The other injured victim was named as 59-year-old Marcel Gardner. Gardner is still in a critical condition at Wake Med Hospital in Raleigh along with the shooter, Patterson said.
“This is an extremely, extremely painful event for our officers, for me, for this entire community,” Patterson added, saying that she was at a conference about gun violence when she received word of the shooting.
The shooting began in the streets of the Headingham neighborhood before the suspect fled toward the Raleigh Neuse River Greenway, a popular walking trail, where more victims were shot.
Raleigh police took a suspect into custody at 9:37 p.m., they said.
“Tonight terror has reached our doorstep,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said in a late night press conference Thursday. “This is a senseless, horrific and infuriating act of violence that has been committed.”
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper speaks at the press conference.
Leigh Tauss“It’s a tragic day because Raleigh police have lost one of their own,” Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said. “I just want to thank the extraordinary officers of the Raleigh police department who even right now are protecting us and putting themselves in harm’s way to arrest the suspect.
“To all of you watching or listening I would ask that you reach out to those you love. Let people know you care.
“We must do more. We must stop this mindless violence in America. We must address gun violence. We have much to do and tonight we have much to mourn.”
Witnesses interviewed by WRAL described the suspect as a white male teenager wearing camouflage with a long gun and a backpack.
Before the suspect was caught, Corey Branch, a city council member who represents the neighborhood, told The Daily Beast, “I hope he surrenders peacefully.”
“I have a feeling they will be brought to justice. Right now I keep all the officers in prayer and the victims and their family members.”
Raleigh Police Lieutenant Jason Borneo.
Leigh TaussResidents in Hedingham were told to stay inside amid the reports of an active shooter on Thursday night.
“I heard two gunshots and they were really loud so I knew something was close by, and then I heard three other gunshots,” Robert, a witness, told WRAL. “I saw him basically pass my house in the backyard. He had a long barrel shotgun. He was dressed in camo. He had a full backpack on that was also camouflage.”
Aerial vision of the scene from Sky 5 showed a large police presence including sniffer dogs at the scene. Photographer Ed Wilson, reporting from the helicopter, said police had been moving locations and focused their priorities on nearby woods. He said cops were clearly looking for someone in the area.
“When we got to the original scene there was a lot of police officers running around with long guns and handguns,” he said.
