RALEIGH, N.C. — Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin did not mince her words Thursday night, just hours after a teenager killed five people and injured two others in east Raleigh.

“This is a sad and tragic day for the city of Raleigh,” Baldwin said as the gunman was still in a standoff with police. “We must do more. We must stop this mindless violence in America. We must address gun violence.”

“We have much to do. And tonight, we have much to mourn,” she said.

A teenager, identified only as a white male, killed two people in Raleigh’s Hedingham neighborhood, then killed three more on a nearby greenway along the Neuse River, according to the city. After an hourslong manhunt, police cornered the teen in a house.

The standoff ended shortly after 9:30 p.m. with the suspect being taken to the hospital in critical condition, according to the mayor. Police did not say how the standoff ended or how the suspect was injured.

Political leaders, from the mayor and North Carolina’s governor up to President Joe Biden, all Democrats, called for action on gun violence.

“We have to end this mindless gun violence that is happening in our country. We have work to do. We have too many victims. We have to wake up,” Baldwin said at a second news conference late Thursday night.

“I don’t want other mayors standing here at the podium with their hearts breaking because people in their community died today needlessly and tragically,” she said.

After police secured the scene and the suspect had been taken to WakeMed Hospital, Gov. Roy Cooper joined city officials for a late-night news conference.

Cooper praised the quick reaction from police and other agencies and expressed grief for the families and the community of those killed. But he also turned his attention to the broader problem of mass shootings in the United States.

"Tonight, terror has reached our doorstep," Cooper said. "The nightmare of every community has come to Raleigh."

“This is a senseless, horrific and infuriating act of violence,” he said.

The next morning, Cooper again joined city leaders. “Today, we’re sad, we’re angry,” he said.

“We all know the core truth. No neighborhood, no parent, no child, no grandparent, no one should feel this fear in their communities,” the governor said. “As policy makers, we cannot and we will not turn away from what has happened here.”

"We must be resolved to make changes and to succeed,” he said Friday morning.

In a statement on the shooting Friday, President Joe Biden thanked law enforcement and expressed grief over the shooting.

“Enough. We’ve grieved and prayed with too many families who have had to bear the terrible burden of these mass shootings. Too many families have had spouses, parents and children taken from them forever,” the president said.

“This year, and even in just the five months since Buffalo and Uvalde, there are too many mass shootings across America, including ones that don’t even make the national news,” Biden said.

Congress passed the first major gun reform bill in three decades earlier this year. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, helped negotiate that legislation. But Biden called for more to be done.

“We must do more. We must pass an assault weapons ban. The American people support this commonsense action to get weapons of war off our streets,” he said. The federal ban on assault weapons expired under the George W. Bush administration and was never renewed.

It’s not clear what kind of weapon the shooter used Thursday night, but in 911 calls released by Raleigh police, witnesses reported the teen had a shotgun.

“How many communities and families must experience this senseless bloodshed before we finally say enough is enough? Gun violence has plagued our schools, houses of worship and other public spaces for far too long,” said Rep. Deborah Ross, who represents the area where the shooting happened.

“I am devastated that Raleigh is next in the long line of American communities forever changed by a mass shooting. No American should be forced to endure this kind of unspeakable anguish and grief,” the congresswoman said.

North Carolina’s top Republicans all praised the swift response by police and gave their condolences for the families and community, but their tweets and statements did not include calls for action on gun reform or a new assault weapons ban.