Law enforcement officers congregate outside an armored vehicle at the Aldi on New Bern Avenue in Raleigh after five people were shot and killed in the Hedingham Neighborhood and Nuese River Trail area in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A 15-year-old boy fatally shot two people in the streets of a neighborhood in North Carolina’s capital city, then fled toward a walking trail, where he opened fire, killing three more people and wounding two others, police said Friday.
Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said the suspect was hospitalized in critical condition following the shootings late Thursday afternoon.
The victims were a racially diverse group and ranged in age from 16 to their late 50s, Patterson said during a news conference. Among the dead was an off-duty Raleigh police officer, Gabriel Torres, 29, who was on his way to work when the shooting began. Police identified the other victims as: Nicole Conners, 52; Mary Marshall, 34; Susan Karnatz, 49; and James Roger Thompson, 16.
Marcille Lynn Gardner, 59, was wounded and remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday. A second police officer, Casey Joseph Clark, 33, was wounded and released from the hospital,
The suspect, who was not immediately identified by police, eluded officers for hours before he was cornered in a home and arrested, police said. Officials have not said how the suspect was injured.
The shootings set off a massive police response and manhunt, with police scouring an area of more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) to find and capture the suspect, Patterson said. She said authorities have not yet determined any motive.
Gov. Roy Cooper called the shooting an “infuriating and tragic act of gun violence.”
“Today we’re sad, we’re angry and we want to know the answers to all the questions,” Cooper said. “I think we all know the core truth — no neighborhood, no parent, no child, no grandparent, no one should feel this fear in their communities — no one.”
The gunfire broke out around 5 p.m. in a residential area northeast of downtown, Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said. Officers from numerous law enforcement agencies swarmed the area, closing roads and warning residents to stay inside while they searched for the shooter.
The Neuse River Greenway runs just behind the backs of houses in the Hedingham neighborhood where the shooting began. The trail runs about 27 miles (43 kilometers) along the river and connects to the state’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail that’s popular with thru-hikers. The stretch behind the neighborhood is paved and lies down a grassy slope from the houses.
Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/shootings-arrests-north-carolina-raleigh-d470969568cfac88de520c6c7cc64741
