RALEIGH, N.C. – Thursday marked six months since a mass shooting killed five people and hurt two others in Raleigh’s Hedingham neighborhood.
Police say 15-year-old Austin Thompson shot and killed his brother, James Thompson, before going on a shooting rampage in the neighborhood.
Off-duty Raleigh police officer Gabriel Torres was shot and killed while on his way to work, Nichole Connors was killed with her dog on her front porch, Susan Karnatz was on a seven-mile run on the trail and Mary Marshall was killed while walking her dog on the greenway behind her home.
Because Thompson is a juvenile, details of his case have been under wraps. However, District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said she intends to try Thompson as an adult.
Meanwhile, local leaders and loved ones of the victims say a path toward healing begins with change, to prevent another tragedy like this from ever happening again.
Rob Steele’s fiancée, Mary Marshall, was killed just 16 days before their wedding day. Since that heartbreaking loss, Steele has met with state representatives multiple times, to keep both the Hedingham tragedy and gun reform top-of-mind.
“They’re going to get sick and tired of hearing me and seeing my face,” Steele said.
“I have met with several North Carolina legislative representatives and senators and, in fact, a couple of weeks ago, I took part in a press conference at the legislature in support of the Dreamers Protective Order Bill that had been placed before the House,” Steele said. “So, I'm continuing to work on it, and I'm not going to stop until something changes.”
He has also met with the new Raleigh City Council member, Megan Patton, who now represents District B, which includes the Hedingham neighborhood.
She was sworn in months after the mass shooting.
Patton is a former school teacher and a current member of Moms Demand Action, a nationwide activist group that fights for public safety measures to protect people from gun violence.
“All of our work on gun violence prevention requires continued collaboration across all levels of government - federal, state and local,” Patton said.
“Here at the city level, we've done gun buyback programs. I'm eager to see how we can continue to amplify programs like that to help get guns off of the street for folks who are ready to get them out of their hands,” Patton said. “You know, I think there's also a lot of safe storage work that the city can do and is already undertaking. So, I'm excited to continue and amplify that work.”
Steele says gun reform shouldn’t be a partisan issue.
“It's not a fight. It's not a battle. Common sense gun control, common sense gun legislation, common sense safety should not be a fight. It shouldn't be the right versus the left. It shouldn't be. It should be everybody for everybody,” Steele said.
“When you're going into it already with the mentality of ‘I'm having to fight this person to make positive change or I'm having to fight this person to keep my rights,’ you’ve already lost,” he said.
Steele is a gun owner himself but says all gun owners must face accountability for the proper safe storage of their firearms.
“It's that simple. I am a gun owner and my kids can't get out my guns when I have them. They're locked up. When I have them, their ammunition is locked up in a separate place,” Steele said.
“Second Amendment advocates should be taking responsibility for their rights. Rights don't just get handed to you. You have to take responsibility for using them properly. That's at a minimum,” he said.