Neighbors afraid, looking for change after shooting rocks Hedingham community

“My first thought when I found out he went to my son's school is that it could’ve taken place at the school," said neighbor Rahnisha Finnell. "So that was very traumatizing.”

Police have not confirmed the model of the weapon that the teen was carrying or how it was obtained, but there is no minimum age to possess a shotgun or rifle in North Carolina.

It's something Hedingham resident Isaac Hernandez finds troubling.

“There should be an age restriction like cigarettes or beer," said Hernandez. "You can kill someone with the push of a button.”

You must be 18 to purchase a long gun from a dealer, but there are loopholes.

Alleged Raleigh shooter, 15, could be charged as adult in mass shooting

North Carolina is less restrictive than many other states, according to Sean Holihan with Giffords Law Center, a gun violence prevention group.

“North Carolina laws have to be updated to make sure children can’t access and possess these types of dangerous weapons,” said Holihan.

North Carolina does not currently have a law that requires unattended firearms to be locked or stored in a certain way. Firearms are also not required to be sold with a locking device.

However, adults with a minor in the home could be charged with a misdemeanor if a child is able to access a firearm without their permission.

Former social worker Sabrena Dewberry led a group in prayer Saturday and hopes to build connections that can prevent future acts of violence.

“Us as parents being responsible and taking accountability for what we have in our homes and what our children have access to,” said Dewberry. “My hope would be for communities to be able to come together before a tragedy occurs.”

But Triangle Business Journal staff writer Evan Hoopfer told WRAL News that's how he felt after the mass shooting Thursday.

"I hope that my family doesn't die in a mass shooting," said Hoopfer.

Hoopfer lives in the Hedingham neighborhood where he takes walks with his wife, McKenzie, and his infant son, Charlie.

Hoopfer said during the shooting his editor texted him to lock his doors, warning him of the shooter nearby.

As a husband, and now a father, he fears the kind of world Charlie will live in.

"He's gonna have that threat for the rest of his life and childhood when he should be concerned with boys or girls or pimples, and stuff like that, he's going to be concerned about mass shootings and so will I," said Hoopfer.

That nonstop loop of a deadly mass shooting, the mourning, the news coverage and then repeat.

If his headline sounds depressing, Hoopfer said it is.

"You should be depressed at this state in our country and what we're going through because nothing will happen," said Hoopfer. "Nothing has happened."

WRAL News expects to hear more information about the shooting Thursday when the five-day report is released.