Trial date set for teen charged in 2022 mass shooting in Raleigh’s Hedingham neighborhood
A judge set a tentative trial date Thursday for Austin Thompson, the 16-year-old charged with killing five people in a mass shooting in the Hedingham neighborhood in Raleigh.
The trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 22, 2025, in Wake County Superior Court, according to District Attorney Lorrin Freeman.
Thompson is accused of of fatally shooting his older brother and four neighbors in his northeastern Raleigh golf-course community on Oct. 13, 2022.
Last October, a year after the shooting, he was formally charged as an adult with five counts of murder in the deaths of James Roger Thompson, Nicole Connors, Susan Karnatz, Mary Elizabeth Marshall and Gabriel Torres.
He is also charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflicting serious injury for the injuries sustained by Marcille Lynn Gardner, The News & Observer reported previously.
And he faces charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflicting serious injury, and assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer for the injuries sustained by Raleigh police officer C. Clark during an armed standoff after the shootings.
If convicted, Thompson could face life sentences for each of the five homicides he is charged with. He could not receive the death sentence because of his age.
After the shootings, Thompson fled on foot about a mile northeast of the neighborhood where he hid in a barn-like structure off of McConnell Oliver Drive and engaged in a standoff with officers.
He was taken into custody just after 9:30 p.m. after suffering from a reportedly self-inflicted single gunshot wound. He was taken to WakeMed, where he remained in critical condition for several days.
Since then, Freeman has declined to comment on Thompson’s condition and whether he could be deemed unfit to stand trial.
Why the case is taking time to advance
The case has moved through the court system slowly because it was moved from juvenile court to superior court last year, among other factors.
“With the limited resources that we have and the cases that our trial courts can hear on a weekly basis, this is where this case falls in the chronology,” Freeman explained in a phone interview Thursday.
“It is also true that this is a particularly complex case,” she continued. “Any time you have a case that involves five (homicide) victims and multiple law enforcement agencies, we anticipate this case would take several weeks to try.”
The case against Thompson is one of nearly 100 murder cases currently moving through the Wake County court system, many of which occurred before the mass shooting, Freeman noted.
Alan Thompson, Austin’s father, cited
Thompson’s father, Alan Thompson, was charged last year with one misdemeanor count of storing a firearm in a manner accessible to a minor.
A criminal court summons was issued against him last October, and his defense attorney filed a motion to continue the case. He has a disposition hearing on March 14.
The charge was the first indication that at least one of the guns used in the shooting belonged to Alan Thompson, The N&O reported previously.
Austin Thompson allegedly used a shotgun, a handgun and a large hunting knife in the incident.
Alleged Hedingham killer faces five murder charges as he moves up to adult court
