'Austin did this': Raleigh mass shooter's mother describes day of deaths

Thank you

Good afternoon ma'am

Um can you just tell us your name uh for

the court and the court order please Sure it's Elise

Enders Thompson

And how do you spell your first name E L

I S E

And uh Ms

Thompson um how long have you lived uh in North

Carolina I've lived there since the fall of '98

Um and did you all live in the Headtingham neighborhood

Yes we lived there our entire marriage which is July

of 2004

Um and Tell us uh who's who's in your family

Um myself um Alan husband at the time

James and Austin

Back in October of 2022 um How old were James

and Austin Austin was 15

James was 16 1/2

Um How were they as brothers They were very good

They got along very well and they did a lot

of stuff together

Like what types of things would they do together Of

course they played video games

They were teenagers

They walked to and from the bus every day together

Growing up we went to the pool all the time

They really enjoyed that

I'm trying to think

I'm sorry this is not the most calm situation I've

been in

It is not and we appreciate you being here

They got along well but they did they were um

personality-wise were they different Yeah um James was more outgoing

and Austin was more like me where it took him

a few minutes to warm up to a room or

to new people but after that he was fine such

as he had his Sunday school class every Sunday and

he got along well with all of them

With regards to um were they into sports or was

one more into sports than the other Yep James our

late son was more into sports even though both of

them were very athletic kids um

Austin did at the beginning of his sophomore year of

high school

He took sports medicine as an elective and I picked

him up a couple of times a week after school

for that

With regards to what were the types of things that

if if Austin wasn't into sports what were the things

that he liked to do Um Besides video games he

liked to go fishing

He liked to go hunting with his dad Alan

Um They always wanted whenever I was going to the

grocery store they wanted to come with me because then

they knew that they would get their favorite snacks

Um and they like to go out for ice cream

with me which was when we did it was usually

on a Sunday most of the time

Um You've mentioned video games several times

Would they would they play video games together or separately

They would play games separately

They would take turns for a couple of hours

And where in the home did they have these video

game systems in their rooms or were there was there

just one or tell us about that

There was one gaming system and TV that they worked

on

It was a ranch house so it was the kitchen

The open eating area which was the table and their

video game with their chair and set up and then

there was another half wall like this and then that

was the living room so we could see what was

going on

With regards to school how did they do in school

They were both on honor roll so that was nice

OK

Was there a time where they I mean was this

were they consistently on honor roll for high school Yes

for um middle school if I remember correctly it was

um merit roll

OK

And where um where did they go to middle school

and high school Middle school they went to the brand

new um I've been there so many times dropping them

off

It is right near Wake Tech

And off of um Louisburg Road and it was the

Riverbend

I'm sorry now I finally remembered it's Riverbend Middle School

and it was the very first year that it had

opened

They went and then they were both in high school

back in 2022 is that right Yes at Knightdale High

School

And by 2022 was James driving at all Yes he

was clocking hours to get his permit and when high

school started he would drive my car and I'd be

in the passenger seat and Austin would be in the

back and then he would get his 15 minutes in

In the mornings and then after they were dropped off

then I drove on to work for the day

OK

And at that time schedule wise when would you typically

get home from work Around 5:30 5:40

And during back in 2022 what was Alan doing for

work was a handyman

Did he have regular hours or was he gone most

of the day It was flexible but usually he was

gone during the day Monday through Friday typically

And so what was the routine kind of the daily

routine with the comings and goings from from home They

were pretty self-sufficient as far as they would get up

and get themselves ready for school

We didn't have to hound them at all and then

we would I would be getting ready after they did

and like I mentioned I would get in the car

and he could get his time in for school and

then I would go to work until 5

And then I would go right home and if I

wasn't going right home I would stop at like the

grocery store or get my haircut or something like that

like a regular type of errands

OK

And they seemed did they ever have any incidents or

get into any trouble during these times where they were

at home alone No they were really good kids

They were at home at school at Sunday school

They as far as I know they never even handed

in a late assignment ever to school

So I want um what time I think you you

may have mentioned this but what time typically if you

know did they get home from school They got home

around 3 3:10 I believe and that's when they would

get off the bus yes and then they would walk

home

Um So I want to take you to the day

that this all happened

Um What did you have any plans this that that

afternoon or after work Yes right from work um

I ran an errand maybe to get an ice cream

or something and then I got my I was getting

my hair colored at 6

And um That normally takes an hour and then I

would have gone home after that

At what point that evening did you realize that There

was something going on Um When her boyfriend turned on

the television we were we were in the kitchen

She was applying the hair dye and he turned on

the TV and all of a sudden it's heading him

shooter

So Brandon saw the news and saw the back area

of Headingham which is where we lived at the time

And what did you do once you saw this information

I tried to call them and neither of them picked

up and then I tried to text both of them

and I didn't hear back

And then if I remember correctly I immediately called Alan

after that

So what time of day that this would have been

after work after your errand yeah after

Yes I wasn't

My hair appointment was not until 6 o'clock so I

don't know um maybe 6:15 6:30-ish they turned on the

TV and then we knew something terrible was happening

And when you when you reached out to Alan were

you able to actually connect with him Yes I did

connect with him

And of course it was stressful

I remember him saying that um he got a flat

tire and he had a a regular SUV and because

he got a flat tire he had to empty out

all of his tools to get to the spare tire

put it on then he had to put all of

his tools back and so that took him that's how

I got home before he did

Um and so by the time you're Getting home what

what is the Hettingham neighborhood like at that point Did

you notice anything that was the ordinary Yes there was

a lot of police cars and I was able to

drive into the neighborhood on the Firehouse side which is

sky crust I believe

And when you got home um Do you go do

you typically pull in the garage or do you park

on the street Yes I normally pull in the garage

except there was a police officer on

When you're looking at the garage the police officer vehicle

with the lights on was on the left

OK so um tell us about getting into your home

I parked um very quickly across from our driveway

I parked across the street on the neighbor's side of

the street and I opened the garage door the big

door to get in and then we normally go through

that door to get in the house every day

And that door was locked which was very unusual and

I kept banging on the door and then I didn't

get a response so I ran out of the garage

and right onto the it was a very easy U-turn

and ran up onto the porch

And were you able to get inside Yes I was

I went to Hit the doorbell and then I was

going to bang on the door and the door was

opened a little bit and I was able to just

walk into the house

And then um when you got inside what happened Where

where did you go first when you got inside I

just walked in the house you know and of course

my head's on a swivel because all this stuff is

going on and I didn't see them in the kitchen

I glanced past their bedrooms and then I walked into

our master bedroom which as everyone knows that's where I

found his body on the bathroom floor

And we've heard about that and its impact on you

from others that heard it

Um Once you were outside of the home what's what

do you remember I remember running and screaming and I

went out the same front door that I came in

and I I remember saying they killed him they killed

him and then I remember running back in because I

had to go to the bathroom

Because there's so much going on and then I remember

as soon as I flushed the toilet I remember a

female officer knocking on the bathroom door saying You have

to come out now

And I'm like well I'm trying to clean up

I'm trying to change my clothes and stuff

And she's like No you have to come out now

So I remember throwing on a nightshirt and um She

walked out with me and she sat me in the

rocking chair which was in the driveway

Um And you were taken for some medical treatment at

that point yeah I had a Panic attack and I

was I remember when I someone walked me to the

ambulance that was open and I remember saying um oh

you got me on the first stick thank you and

that's all I remember

The next thing I remember is waking up in the

hospital bed and Alan was sitting next to me and

all I could see was just police officers

When you And when When you're when you wake up

or or you kind of come to or I guess

I did get to your um your faculties more about

you there in the hospital um

Is that when you learn kind of what is going

on Yes what I remember waking up I remember male

detective sitting there and he said um Austin did this

And You know you don't think of that

That's your child

You're like what And they're like Austin did this

He left a note and I'm like you know it's

you're not comprehending what's happening to you

You you know you try but and then they were

As they were I woke up

Before so leading up to this incident um had you

noticed a a change at all in Austin no not

at all

It was a complete shock

There were no No different moods no different behavior nothing

Um had he um I know there's been some testimony

that he was Um well was he taking any prescription

medications that you know of Yes he and his brother

both um they were taking acne medication but I I

don't remember the name of it

I just knew they took it once a day

And how long had they been taking that if you

remember I think it was almost a year

I'm pretty sure

Um From the time when they started taking that specifically

when Austin started taking this medication did you notice a

change in him at all Nope I didn't notice any

behavior changes at all

Did he ever complain or mention that The medicine make

him feel weird or anything like that No nothing at

all

He continued to make good grades

Yes

They both did

And when he was um when when the boys would

play video games um

What do you remember what types of games these were

I'm pretty sure it was Call of Duty

And would they play You know I think you have

the ability

You can I could just play right here in my

living room or I could play with someone online

Yes they would they do that Yes they would

They had um I don't know what the headset was

that allows you and it's got the microphone and they

could talk to other people

Um sometimes it was overseas

It was English speaking OK

Um and did uh did the boys have uh cell

phones Yes they recently had cell phones yes

Um Ms

Thompson is there Understanding that this is uh Likely a

parent's worst nightmare is there anything that you could think

of That looking back Um You feel like maybe you

should have noticed or seen

No that was I've I've run through that almost every

day since the tragedy and I I don't remember seeing

any issues at all or mood swings or anything like

that

He was just normal

Um

Is there anything what if anything would you like the

court to know about how um this has impacted you

understanding that um You lost James

During this yes what if anything would you like to

tell the court about how this has impacted you Um

yeah we lost both of our children in one afternoon

Um I wrote up a thing

That that's fine

Yes ma'am

Can I read it now or do you Yes ma'am

Oh OK

OK

No one ever thinks they will outlive their child let

alone find their lifeless bloody body

No one ever expects to No one ever expects to

have everything important to them ripped away from them in

a single afternoon

I'm not sure anyone can understand where Alan and I

sit

We both lost our children one at the hand of

the other

We never saw this coming and still cannot make sense

of it

To know that my son who I carried for 9

months caused all of this heartache and tragedy is still

a complete shock

Austin was a happy kid

He was an honor roll student who never caused any

trouble problems at school or Sunday school

He was a great kid and a great brother and

a great son

What he did makes no sense to me

We don't know why he did it and we may

never know why he did it

I just can't make any sense of it

The child that got up that morning on October 13

2022 would never have done this

I just can't comprehend it

I've heard the reason is the acne medication

We've asked the investigators to help find the reason

We gave them everything our phones our photo albums our

computers everything from our house to help them figure out

why

They still don't know why

Even though it won't bring back James or anyone else's

loved ones and even won't undo the injuries suffered by

the two survivors we still long for an answer

How could the kid I knew and raised do this

And I don't know because he wouldn't have done this

Austin I know you did this and I also know

as your mom this wasn't anything you had in you

You and James were great babies kids and teens

You and James were our world

I miss you both every day

I can't imagine a day there will ever be where

I don't miss you

As parents we will never get to witness the milestones

that you and James would have experienced

In my lifetime I will not see either of you

get your driver's license go to the prom see you

walk across the stage to get your high school diplomas

or see you attend college

I will miss watching both you launch into adulthood getting

married and potentially having your own children

We belong to the worst club on earth

My heart is shattered and so are my hopes and

dreams for you and James

We have nothing left to look forward to

I lost both of you in one afternoon

The last thing I want to say is to the

families of the victims Susan Mary Nicole Gabriel and to

the survivors Lynn and Casey

I know your lives have changed permanently

And I am and will forever be sorry for the

pain that this has caused you

That's Thank you