Hedingham shooting suspect's attorneys move to limit discussion of race, gender bias as motive

A new motion filed by lawyers representing the teen accused of killing five people in Raleigh’s Hedingham neighborhood is seeking to prevent the state from arguing that race or gender played a role in the October 2022 shooting.

On Monday, lawyers for Austin Thompson filed a motion to restrict arguments, speculation or opinions that Thompson may have committed the shooting with either a gender or racial bias.

“Hedingham is a racially diverse neighborhood,” the motion stated. “The victims in this case were racially diverse as well. There were both male and female victims.”

The Oct. 13, 2022, shooting spree began inside the Thompson family home in the Hedingham community and ended on the nearby Neuse River Greenway. In addition to his brother, 16-year-old James Thompson, Austin Thompson is charged with the murders of 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.  Another Raleigh police officer, Casey Clark, 33, and Marcille "Lynn" Gardner, a special education teacher, were injured.

According to the motion, a note left inside Thompson’s home said the reason he committed the shooting was that “humans are destroying the planet/earth.” In another section of the letter, Thompson stated that he “does not have a goal.”

Court documents in December revealed the state plans to argue that Thompson knowingly committed the mass shooting in an aggravated manner and in an effort to avoid being arrested or “effecting an escape from custody.”

Thompson’s lawyers in October filed a motion saying a prescription medication contributed to his actions that day, saying the medication led to “voluntary intoxication,” which gave Thompson “diminished capacity.”

Monday’s motion also requests that the prosecution refrain from arguing that Thompson had a racial or gender bias based on evidence collected from Thompson’s search history, interviews with people who knew him, his school records and the note he left at his home.

A civil lawsuit filed by the families of the victims in 2024 claims that Thompson used racial slurs in arguments with residents leading up to the shooting.

A judge in March ruled that the civil lawsuit could proceed, though lawyers representing the victims argued that Thompson’s civil attorneys were not providing them with Thompson’s mental health records, which a judge ordered them to turn over.

Thompson’s criminal trial is set to begin in February after several delays. He will not face the death penalty because federal law prohibits the death penalty for people younger than 18 years old at the time of their crimes.