RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Attorneys for Austin Thompson said Tuesday that the 18-year-old intends to plead guilty to charges in a 2022 mass shooting in North Carolina that prosecutors said killed five people, including his older brother. They said the plea is planned ahead of his scheduled Feb. 2 trial.
A written notice filed in Wake County court says Thompson intends to plead guilty to all charges against him. A hearing ahead of the scheduled Feb. 2 trial was set for Wednesday, the filing and court scheduling discussed in the report said.
In the court notice, attorneys Kellie Mannette and Deonte’ Thomas wrote that Thompson “has decided he wishes to save the community and the victims from as much additional infliction of trauma as possible,” according to the filing. The attorneys did not immediately respond to emails seeking additional information about the decision, the report said.
Thompson’s legal proceedings have been delayed in part because he recovered from a gunshot wound that a prosecutor concluded was self-inflicted before his arrest. His attorneys said the wound resulted in a brain injury, and they later said in court papers that it affected his ability to explain why he committed the shooting.
Prosecutors, in a court filing, said they intended to prove that Thompson’s actions were “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel” and that he attempted to avoid custody. In their Tuesday filing, Thompson’s attorneys wrote that “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,” according to the report.
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. Prosecutors and police said they believed Thompson shot and stabbed his brother James inside their home, whose body was found there, the report said.
Police said Thompson then shot multiple neighbors on the Hedingham community’s streets, killing off-duty Raleigh police Officer Gabriel Torres, 29, and Nicole Connors, 52, while another neighbor was wounded. They also said he later fatally shot Mary Marshall, 34, and Susan Karnatz, 49, on the nearby Neuse River Greenway trail.
The report said Thompson was arrested after an hourslong standoff in which another police officer was wounded. Police said Thompson was dressed in camouflage with multiple weapons strapped to his belt and was located in a nearby shed before being taken into custody.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said Tuesday she was aware of the plea notice, telling the report: “We are ready to move forward. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims.”
The report said a sentencing hearing would come later after any plea. Because of Thompson’s age at the time of the attack, the report said, he could not receive the death penalty if convicted. The case judge could decide to sentence him to life in prison without parole on murder counts, or grant the possibility of parole after at least 25 years, the report said.
Thompson’s attorneys previously indicated they intended to use “diminished capacity” and “voluntary intoxication … of a prescribed medication” in his defense. The report also said Thompson’s father pleaded guilty in 2024 to improperly storing a handgun authorities said was found with his son after the shootings and received a suspended sentence and probation.
Investigators seized 11 firearms and 160 boxes of ammunition — some empty — from the Thompson home, according to search warrants described in the report. Thompson’s attorneys wrote that he hopes “that the material presented at the sentencing hearing brings as much peace and closure as possible,” according to the notice cited by the report.