Feb. 5, 2026: Raleigh mass shooter's dad recounts 'normal' days, victim's widow calls him 'monster'

Thursday is the third day of Austin Thompson's sentencing hearing in Wake County court.

Here's a running log of Thursday's proceedings:

• 4:54 p.m.: Court is done for the day and will return on Friday morning.
• 4:52 p.m.: A person is seen saying 'There's a shooter over there' near Blackbeard Lane on camera.
• 4:48 p.m.: A digital map showing the path Thompson took after leaving home is projected onto a screen. Footage showed Thompson walking down a street with his weapon. A clip shows him taking aim and firing. More footage showed him running over to Osprey Cove Drive. His phone traveled 2.4 miles during the course of his attempt to escape.
• 4:44 p.m.: Thompson viewed an online article about the shooting on his phone, according to his obtained search history, while trying to avoid arrest.
• 4:30 p.m.: The prosecution, defense and Pike continue to go over the documentation of Thompson's Google searches in the moments after the shooting. The court is now debating whether or not to reorganize the database.
• 4:05 p.m.: Pike returned to the stand. He explained the methods in which data is collected to obtain a person's location that investigators used when trying to locate Thompson in the moments after the shootings. A spreadsheet was opened to reveal Thompson's Google search history from his phone after the shooting. One query shown in the spreadsheet was "kid kills his brother and parents."
• 3:49 p.m.: Court will recess for 15 minutes.
• 3:54 p.m.: Pike recounts a search from Jan. 4, 2020 that asked what the worst mass shooting was in North Carolina history. Thompson was 12 years old at this time. Pike mentions other searches for pictures of dead bodies from the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting. Pike went over various searches for school shootings and said Thompson searched for photos of Knightdale High School, where he attended.
• 3:54 p.m.: Pike recounts a search from May 3, 2022, asking, "how many years is a life sentence without parole?" Another search on Aug. 31 asked, "can juveniles get the death penalty?"
• 3:24 p.m.: Through a search, Pike found 1,302 searches related to guns, 263 searches for bomb-making materials, 148 searches for assaults, rapes, murders and crimes against the LGBTQ+ community, 49 searches about the Unabomber, 39 searches about police scanners, 37 for various styles of knives, 33 for police codes, 32 for serial killers, 25 for school shootings, 19 for mass shootings, and 15 for concealed carry laws.

Other search results included military techniques and how to live off the grid. The searches mentioned in court are only those relevant to the mass shooting.

• 2:55 p.m.: Sergeant Robert Pike is called up to the stand. He is with the D squad for the Raleigh Police Department in field operations. He has been doing digital forensics in some form since 2002.

Pike explains how his team were able to access to Thompson's phone data. 

• 2:54 p.m.: The prosecution asks Tripp some clarifying questions. About a minute later, he is released from the stand.
• 2:36 p.m.: The defense begins cross-examining Tripp.
• 2:30 p.m.: Court returns from the lunch break. Tripp continues his testimony about why Thompson would conduct research into these topics.

Tripp said detectives were not able to obtain video footage from when Thompson stole from Cabela's. Tripp added that ammunition is often stolen at Cabela's. 

• 1 p.m.: Court breaks for lunch.
• 12:50 p.m.: Tripp said that when they searched Thompson's digital devices, they found "lots of searches on violent incidents, violent people, mass shootings, school shootings, serial killers. There were searches on law, on murder, laws as it relates to juveniles, consequences, bank robberies, rape... there was a significant search history on violent acts and events that happened in history."

Tripp added that some searches related to violent criminals who hid in the woods afterwards. 

Related: Defense wanted to limit search histories from Raleigh mass shooter's trial

• 12:47 p.m.: Tripp said that Thompson's parents told him that they had no concerns about him. One piece of information that stood out to Tripp that could have indicated something else could have affected Thompson was that Alan and Elise were going to be separated.

Tripp said that the parents talked with both boys about joint custody.

• 12:38 p.m.: The diagrams are shown on screen. One photo shows a "timer box." Tripp said he believed he was looking at a bomb-making design and instructions. Tripp said he believes the other diagrams drawn out were of pipe bombs and instructions for placing and making bombs.
• 12:33 p.m: Tripp says that he was given the hallowed-out Chapstick tube found by Thompson's father. Tripp said it had tiny handwritten notes and diagrams inside of it.

• 12:25 p.m.: The longer, timestamped note found in Thompson's bedroom is shown on the screen.

The note reads:

The reason I did this is because I hate humans. They are destroying the planet/earth. Killed him at 4:20 about 5 minutes off maybe. He kept breathing so I stabbed him. Stopped breathing about 10-15 mins later. I don't have a goal. I'm not suicidal. Death is like sleep. That's why I don't care if I die. I was never builied or anything. By dad. I don't like you mom. Every other family member is good. Thanks juan and deangelo for taking me hunting. I don't want to die but it's going to happen anyway. You were the best dad. I was never bullied in school either. (Cops) i killed James because he would get in my way. I killed James with a subsonic 22 I stole from Cabela's. I have no regrets. I'm not mental either. I was sane when I did this. Note found in Austin Thompson's bedroom on the day of the mass shooting

• 12:13 p.m.: A video from a house camera on the road Thompson was walking on away from the Hedingham neighborhood shows him telling someone "There's a shooter over there" while he's holding the shotgun.
• Noon: The state presents a thumb drive containing videos and images from the day of the shooting. Video footage shows Thompson walking down his driveway and approaching Lynn Gardner and Nicole Conners with a raised gun.

In another video, five gunshots could be heard, followed by three more. Tripp said the five shots are from the shotgun and the three were correlated with a 9mm. 

• 11:57 a.m.: Tripp says that when Alan Thompson talked to him about the phone call he took with Austin, Alan said that there was no change in Austin's voice and couldn't detect him being out of breath.
• 11:45 a.m.: Court returns with testimony from Tripp. A map shown on the screen shows Thompson's path from his home to where he was captured.

• 11:30 a.m.: Court recesses for break.
• 11:01 a.m.: The prosecution calls up William Tripp, a sergeant with the Raleigh Police Department. On the day of the shooting, he was a detective. 

Tripp explains the process of how they initially determined Austin Thompson as the shooter. He says, at one point, that the amount of ammunition found inside the Thompsons' home was "very large," and he would not categorize the amount as normal.

• 10:56 a.m.: The defense asks a few questions to Alan. When asked what his relationship now is like with Austin, Alan said, "I don't expect people to understand this. I love my two sons, and I always will love my two sons. But my relationship with Austin has changed because of what he did." 

He continues, "When James died, part of me died. With Austin, I still love him, but I don't understand why. I can't put two and two together: the person I raised and the person who did these things, I can't put them together."

• 10:51 a.m.: Alan reads his victim impact statement. He said, "We were close to our boys. They were both such good sons couldn't ask for any better." 

He tearily continued, "Elise and I experienced a parent's worst nightmare. That afternoon, we lost our entire family and we don't know why...I'm not sure I will ever be able to reconcile the boy I knew with the one who committed this crime."

• 10:44 a.m.: Alan says, "Even to this day, I don't understand, first of all, how you can kill your brother...how can you do that, dragging [his body] 90 feet. When I talked to you, how can you talk to me in a calm voice...when he was on the run, he wasn't breathing hard. How can he do that? I don't understand it."

• 10:41 a.m.: When asked about the large amount of ammunition found in the Thompson house, Alan said that during COVID, ammunition was expensive, so he started investing in ammo. He said he would never keep ammo in bags, they were always in boxes and in his safe. 

He said he never had issues with the boys accessing the guns and playing with them that wasn't safe. 

On Wednesday, officers explained crime scene evidence found inside the shed where Austin Thompson was found in, which showed shotgun shells packed in plastic bags, categorized by branding and type of ammo. 

• 10:32 a.m.: Alan said that both boys enjoyed going out but when COVID hit, both were more driven to play video games so they could talk to friends. He said James talked to more people overseas, and Austin talked to more people in the U.S. 

• 10:27 a.m.: Alan said he introduced his sons to hunting when James was 13 and Austin was 12. He added that when they were around 8 and 9, he got them a BB gun, "just like [I had] growing up." They would shoot plastic and paper targets. 

Alan said when they were old enough to go hunting, they would go target practicing and learn gun safety, adding "like my daddy did with me. I raised my sons the same way my daddy raised me, safety and target practice to be safe around a firearm.

• 10:18 a.m.: When asked if there were any teachers who came up to him to get Austin evaluated for ADHD, as they did for their son James, Alan said no. Alan added that Austin and James both received good, consistent grades and were "self-driven."

• 10:13 a.m.: Alan recalls the time he was with Austin in his hospital room while he was recovering from the self-inflicted gunshot wound. He said Austin would just stare ahead of him, and, at one point, started hallucinating seeing animals on the wall.

Alan said, "It's just weird when you see your son, always known him, and he's saying crazy things like that."

• 10:09 a.m.: Alan tears up when he recounts the moment the police told him that they found Austin. He said he tried to talk to him, but they would not let him. 

Alan said that he saw no signs that day from Austin. "Every day was normal," Alan said.

• 10:07 a.m.: Alan says he couldn't register that James was dead. 

• 9:57 a.m.: Austin Thompson's dad, Alan Thompson, is called to the stand. He said on the day of the shooting, he was out running errands and tried to call both sons, both of whom did not pick up. He said while he was fixing a flat tire, he saw highway patrol cars fly by into the Hedingham neighborhood, not knowing what was happening. 

Related: Alan Thompson pleads guilty to storing a firearm in a manner accessible to a minor

• 9:54 a.m.: Jasmin shows a video of her daughter, who says she has something to say to Austin.

Thompson's father was seen sobbing during her statement, before he was called to take the stand.

• 9:52 a.m.: Jasmin says, "That monster should never be allowed anything remotely close to a normal life. Not one of us surviving victims, our families, friends and community should ever have to worry about a future where his barbaric self is set free.

She ends her statement by asking the judge to give Thompson, "Life without parole for James Thompson, 16, life without parole for Nicole Connors, 52 and [her dog] Sammie, life without parole for Gabriel Torres, 29, life without parole for Mary Marshall, 34, life without parole for Susan Karnatz, 49. A life with no hope."

• 9:47 a.m.: Jasmin says that her daughter, now five-years-old, only knows her father through photos and videos.

• 9:39 a.m.:  Jasmin Torres, the wife of the killed off-duty Raleigh police officer Gabriel Torres, reads her victim statement. At one point, she says, "Camouflaged and ready to destroy lives, he knew exactly what he was doing. This was a monstrous act of planned violence."

She exclaims to Thompson, "Look at me, Austin."

• 9:30 a.m.: Court opens with Thompson wearing glasses. Jasmin Torres is the first to speak.

Before Thursday's hearing

On Wednesday, Thompson's mother, Elise Thompson, recalled the day that Austin opened fire in the east Raleigh street they lived on, forever changing numerous lives.

Raleigh police officers who responded to the mass shooting went over photos of the crime scene, including those inside the Thompson home where his brother James was found dead and in the shed where Austin turned the gun on himself.

Additionally, his teachers at Knightdale High School took the stand. The educators remembered him as a quiet student, though sometimes caught up in playing games during class.

Last month, Thompson pleaded guilty to five counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and one count of assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer. Five people, including a police officer, died in the Raleigh mass shooting on Oct. 13, 2022, in the city's Hedingham neighborhood when Thompson was 15.   

The court will determine Thompson's punishment at the end of the hearing, which could take several more days as both the defense and prosecutors are allowed to present witnesses. Judge Paul Ridgeway is presiding over the proceedings.