Raleigh mass shooter moved to 'restrictive housing' within prison; civil trial set for July

A trial date is set in the civil lawsuit related to the 2022 Raleigh mass shooting.

Court documents show the trial will begin July 6, and it is expected to last two weeks.

The civil lawsuit names Austin Thompson, his parents, the Hedingham HOA and security company. The families of those whom Thompson shot are claiming that those entities failed to prevent the attack that left five dead and two wounded.

Attorneys for the families have argued that the HOA and Thompson's parents knew he posed a threat and did nothing. According to the lawsuit, the victims had filed complaints against the accused shooter, Austin Thompson, days before the shooting.

“The complaint details how Thompson, a known threat to the community, was allowed to roam freely with his weapons, leading to the deaths of five individuals and serious injury to others,” said the Howard Stallings Law Firm, who is representing the plaintiffs in the suit.

Last month, Thompson was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing five people, including his brother and a police officer. Thompson was 15 years old at the time of the shooting.

Records show Thompson has been moved to restrictive housing at Central Prison.

According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, restrictive housing is defined as:

"The control of offenders due to behavior deemed to be repeatedly disruptive to the orderly operations of the facility, threats to the safety of staff or other offenders, threats to the security and operational integrity of the facility, or as a transition following assignment to High Security Maximum Control (HCON) status. Restrictive Housing for Control Purposes is authorized at any point during an offender's confinement if needed to contain the offender in a more secure environment over a long period of time."

A spokesperson for the Department of Adult Corrections said that Thompson's moved was "not the result of any disciplinary action." It is unclear what conditions prompted corrections officers to determine that Thompson needed to be in that "more secure environment."