Local News

Sources: Suspected Raleigh mass shooter recovering, begins rehab

Sources said 15-year-old Austin Thompson is monitored by Raleigh police officers around the clock. That monitoring will continue when he begins physical rehabilitation as soon as today.

Posted — Updated

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.


By
Joe Fisher
, WRAL reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — The medical condition of the suspected gunman in a Raleigh mass shooting continues to improve, sources tell WRAL News.

Sources said 15-year-old Austin Thompson is at WakeMed, monitored by Raleigh police officers around the clock. That monitoring will continue when he begins physical rehabilitation, which sources said could be as soon as Friday.

Thompson has been hospitalized with serious injuries since his capture by police on the night of Oct. 13. He had a gunshot wound to his head when he was taken into custody. Police have not confirmed whether Thompson shot himself or if he was shot during an exchange of gunfire with officers.

Sources tell WRAL News that Thompson opened fire just before 5 p.m. on Oct. 13 in the streets of the Hedingham neighborhood and on the Neuse River greenway, killing five people including his 16-year-old brother, James Thompson.

Four of the Thompsons' neighbors were also killed: an off-duty Raleigh police officer, Gabriel Torres, 29, who was on his way to work when he was shot; Mary Marshall, 34; Nicole Connors, 52, and Susan Karnatz, 49. Two people were injured. Raleigh police officer Casey Clark, 33, was treated and released from the hospital on that night. Marcille "Lynn" Gardner, a special education teacher who just turned 60, remains at WakeMed in stable condition with numerous surgeries ahead.

Police have yet to say where Thompson got the guns he allegedly used in the mass shooting.

Questions like that leave Hedingham neighbors on edge.

“After the shooting, I kind of laid low for a little bit and made sure nothing crazy is going to happen,” said Jream Muhammad. By Friday, he and a friend were back at the lake in Hedingham looking to relax and heal some of the tension that's been evident in the community.

“Time will take them through the healing process," a man who gave his name only as Otis said of his neighbors. "It will take time because people’s lives were taken.”

Thompson's parents, Elise and Alan Thompson have said there were no warning signs of what their son was capable of.

They released a written statement after the shootings, but have said they are not planning to conduct interviews with media members.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman has said she will pursue adult charges against the suspect should he recover enough to stand trial.

"There has been a petition filed in juvenile court, and we will be moving forward with a probable cause hearing and then asking that those be transferred to adult court or Superior Court for trial as an adult,” she said.

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.