Austin Thompson pleads guilty in 2022 Raleigh mass shooting that killed 5

An 18-year-old admitted on Wednesday to carrying out a mass shooting in 2022 Raleigh, North Carolinawho claimed the lives of five people – including his older brother and a police officer – pleaded guilty to murder and several other charges just days before the trial.

Austin David Thompson pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of assaulting an officer with a gun, the Associated Press reported.

Thompson was 15 when prosecutors said he was I opened fire in the Raleigh neighborhood, killing Thompson’s brother James Thompson, along with 52-year-old Nicole Connors, 29-year-old Raleigh Police Officer Gabriel Torres, 34-year-old Mary Marshall, and 49-year-old Susan Karnatz. He was scheduled to face a state murder trial later this month before changing his plea.

Thompson’s attorneys announced Tuesday that he will plead guilty to all charges after months of pretrial motions seeking to limit the evidence and testimony prosecutors can present. In court filings, his lawyers said avoiding a trial would “spare the community and the victims from as much trauma as possible.”

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Austin Thompson is sworn in during a hearing in Wake County Superior Court on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Allen J. Breed)

He was wearing a zip-up jacket and pants, and Thompson said a few words Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgway questioned him and formally accepted the guilty plea.

Ridgway is scheduled to hand down his sentence on February 2, and the hearing is expected to last several days. Thompson and his attorney confirmed that no agreement had been reached with prosecutors.

Because Thompson was a minor at the time of the shooting, he is not eligible for the death penalty. Ridgway could impose a life sentence without parole, although state law also allows for penalties that would make him eligible for parole after at least 25 years. A recent ruling by state appellate judges set the amount of time juvenile offenders must serve before becoming eligible for parole at 40.

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Defense attorney Kelly Manette touches Austin Thompson’s shoulder during a hearing in Wake County Superior Court on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Allen J. Breed)

The case was postponed while Thompson was recovering from a gunshot wound that Wake County Prosecutor Loren Freeman said was self-inflicted before his arrest, an injury his attorneys say caused significant brain damage.

In court, Assistant District Attorney Patrick Latour outlined the evidence prosecutors would have presented at trial, describing the sequence of events on October 13, 2022.

Latour said Thompson first shot and then stabbed James repeatedly inside the family home in the Hedingham neighborhood. Thompson then moved through the neighborhood armed with a rifle and a handgun, killing Connors and then Torres, prosecutors said. Another neighbor was injured and survived.

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Raleigh Police Department Officer Gabriel Torres, who was fatally shot in a mass shooting on October 13, 2022. (Fox News Channel)

Thompson later continued the attack on a nearby greenway, where he shot and killed Marshall and Karnatz, authorities said.

Officers eventually found Thompson near McConnell Oliver Drive, where he opened fire, wounding him, police said. Raleigh Police Officer Casey Clark. Several officers returned fire, firing about 23 shots before Thompson was handcuffed.

“At the time, he was wearing camouflage clothing and a backpack, and there was a handgun in his waistband. The backpack contained various items, including several types of rifle/shotgun ammunition. A sheath for a large knife was found clipped to his belt, and a large hunting knife was found at the front of the outbuilding. There was a shotgun and birdshot shells lying on the ground near him,” Raleigh Police Chief Estella D. Patterson said in a report at the time.

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Tears well up in Tracy Howard’s eyes when she hears a prosecutor describe the murder of his wife, Nicole Connors, during a hearing in Wake County Superior Court on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Allen J. Breed)

Wednesday’s hearing provided few new details about Thompson’s motives. His lawyers wrote this week that A Brain injury What he suffered during the case left him unable to explain why he opened fire.

Latour said a memo written by Thompson addressed why he killed his brother, but its contents were not revealed in court and he ordered it sealed. Latour also said investigators recovered records showing Thompson searched online for information about mass shootings and related topics, evidence the defense said could be challenged at sentencing.

Marshall’s fiancé, Robert Steele, said after the hearing that Thompson should be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

“This is justice,” Steele said. “He took the lives of five people, and tried to kill two more.”

In 2024, Thompson’s father pleaded guilty Incorrectly storing a gun He was found with his son after the attack and was given a suspended sentence and probation, authorities said.

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Investigators also seized 11 firearms and 160 boxes of ammunition — some of which were empty — from Thompson’s home, according to search warrants. Thompson and his family were avid hunters, Latour said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.