An 18-year-old North Carolina man plans to plead guilty to a 2022 mass shooting in Raleigh that left five people dead, his attorneys said Tuesday. Austin Thompson, who was 15 when he shot and stabbed his 16-year-old brother and four neighbors on October 13, 2022, filed notice of his intended plea in Wake County court. A hearing ahead of his scheduled February 2 trial was set for Wednesday.
The guilty plea avoids a trial and offers a path toward closure for the victims’ families. Thompson cannot receive the death penalty because he was under 18 at the time of the shooting, but he faces the possibility of life in prison without parole or, at the judge’s discretion, life with the possibility of parole after at least 25 years.
Austin Thompson was 15 years old on October 13, 2022, when he armed himself with multiple weapons, dressed in camouflage, and carried out a killing rampage through his Raleigh neighborhood. Nearly four years later, his attorneys filed notice that he intends to plead guilty, sparing the community a trial scheduled for February 2.
In a written court filing Tuesday, Thompson’s attorneys said their client “has decided he wishes to save the community and the victims from as much additional infliction of trauma as possible.”
The Victims
The five people killed include Thompson’s 16-year-old brother James, whose body was found in their home; off-duty Raleigh police Officer Gabriel Torres, 29; Nicole Connors, 52; Mary Marshall, 34; and Susan Karnatz, 49. Another neighbor was wounded but survived.
Police reported that two officers were wounded during Thompson’s apprehension. Thompson was located by law enforcement in a shed following an hourslong standoff.
Charges and Sentencing
Thompson was charged as an adult on five counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of assault of an officer with a gun.
Thompson suffered a gunshot wound before his arrest that a prosecutor concluded was self-inflicted, resulting in a brain injury. “The serious brain injury he suffered has made it such that Austin cannot explain why he committed this shooting, he has always accepted that he did this,” his attorneys, Kellie Mannette and Deonte’ Thomas, wrote in the court filing.
Thompson’s defense team had previously indicated they intended to use “diminished capacity” and “voluntary intoxication of a prescribed medication” as part of his defense, though the guilty plea supersedes those strategies.
Prosecutors had not publicly disclosed a potential motive but indicated in court filings they intended to argue that Thompson’s actions were “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel” and that he attempted to avoid custody.
Because Thompson was under 18 at the time of the attack, he cannot receive the death penalty. At sentencing, the judge will have two options: life in prison without the possibility of parole, or life in prison with the possibility of parole after at least 25 years.
Background
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said Tuesday that her office was aware of the plea notice. “We are ready to move forward,” Freeman said. “Our thoughts are with the families of the victims.”
Investigators seized 11 firearms and 160 boxes of ammunition from the Thompson home, according to search warrants, some of them empty. In 2024, Thompson’s father pleaded guilty to improperly storing a handgun that was found with his son after the shooting. He received a suspended sentence and probation.
Thompson’s attorneys wrote that their client hopes “that the material presented at the sentencing hearing brings as much peace and closure as possible.”