Raleigh mass shooting: Fiancé devastated after learning search warrant details
A search of the suspect's home in the Hedingham mass shooting revealed a disturbing discovery: hundreds of rounds of ammunition, multiple weapons, and a letter about the suspect's brother's death.
This news comes as a shock to Rob Steele, whose fiancée, Mary Marshall, was one of the five victims killed in the Oct 13, 2022 shooting.
WRAL News cameras captured Steele's stunned reaction as he read the newly-obtained search warrants.
The documents outlined a chilling reality about the mass shooting that took five lives, including his fiancée Mary Marshall.
"I originally thought this was just a mental break but clearly not," Steele said.
Search warrants for the accuser shooter's cell phone state Austin Thompson searched 'active shooter' NC while the shooting spree unfolded.
"Clearly, the evidence shows he knew what he was doing," Steele said.
The warrants highlight a grim discovery from the home of the accused shooter: 11 guns, about 170 boxes and bags of ammunition 45 of them empty, along with over 100 rounds of loose ammo.
"To have something like that concerns me," Donnie Harrison, former Wake County sheriff said.
Harrison said he's never seen a case like this in his decades working in law enforcement.
He wants parents to be more responsible in preventing access to guns.
"It starts at home-parents have got to do a better job and say, 'You have to have respect for this; you don't touch this," Harrison said.
The accused shooter's father faces misdemeanor charges for storing a firearm in a manner accessible to a minor.
Steele accuses both parents of being negligent and wants serious charges.
"My preference would be to see them charged as an accomplice to murder," Steele said.
Despite the ongoing pain, Rob Steele finds solace in therapy and the support of his neighbors.
Meanwhile, the legal process continues; a pre-trial date for Austin Thompson's case has been set for September 2025.
WRAL News has reached out to Thompson's attorneys for comment but has yet to receive a response.
