RALEIGH, N.C. — Police arrived on the scene of the mass shooting in Raleigh 10 minutes after the first 911 call, according to a preliminary report released Thursday.

The Raleigh Police Department report describes a chaotic scene, where 911 callers heard gunshots and saw two women and a dog on the ground with gunshot wounds. Another caller said his neighbor, a police officer, was shot by a white teenager wearing camouflage.


What You Need To Know

  • Raleigh police released the preliminary report on the Oct. 13 mass shooting

  • The report states investigators still do not know the teenage suspect's motives

  • Five people died in the shooting that began in an east Raleigh neighborhood and continued on a neighboring greenway

  • The report states that police cornered the suspect in a building. When officers went in, the teenager had a single gunshot wound and was taken to the hospital

The teen ran into the woods and killed two more people on the Neuse River Greenway Trail, according to the report. The first 911 calls came in at 5:09 p.m. on Oct. 13. Police found the suspect at about 6:42 p.m., hidden in a building nearby.

The suspect shot at police and two officers fired back. Raleigh Police Officer Casey Clark was shot, but he was released from the hospital later that night. The report states they fired an estimated 23 rounds at the suspect.

The standoff lasted until 9:34 p.m.

The city’s Selective Enforcement Unit, Raleigh’s SWAT team, went into the building, the report states. They found 15-year-old Austin Thompson on the ground, alive but with a single gunshot wound.

“At the time, he was wearing camouflage clothing and a backpack, and a handgun was in his waistband. The backpack contained various items, including several types of shotgun/rifle ammunition,” the report states.

“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. A shotgun and shotgun shells were lying on the ground near him,” according to the report.

It wasn’t until later that police found the suspect's brother dead in a home nearby.

“The collective motive for these attacks is still unknown,” the report states. “Based on information currently available, there does not appear to be any connection between the victims that were shot by the suspect prior to his encounter with the police other than they lived in the same neighborhood.”

Police say Thompson shot and killed five people and injured two others during the rampage through a suburban east Raleigh neighborhood and on the neighboring Neuse River Greenway.

The dead included Austin Thompson’s 16-year-old brother, James Thompson, and Raleigh Police Officer Gabriel Torres, who was off-duty when he was killed. Nicole Connors, 52, Susan Karnatz, 49, and Mary Marshall, 35, also were killed in the shooting spree.

One of those injured, Marcille Gardner, turned 60 in the hospital over the weekend.

 

A map from the Raleigh police preliminary report shows the path investigators think the suspect took during the shooting. (Raleigh Police Department)

“Our son Austin inflicted immeasurable pain on the Raleigh community, and we are overcome with grief for the innocent lives lost,” Austin Thompson’s parents, Alan and Elise Thompson, said in a statement Tuesday.

“We have so many unanswered questions. There were never any indications or warning signs that Austin was capable of doing anything like this,” they said. “Our family will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement officials and do whatever we can to help them understand why and how this happened.”

The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting, standard protocol after a police shooting. The police department plans to ask a judge to release the body camera video from the three officers who exchanged gunfire with the suspect, according to the report.

Funerals began this week for the five killed. Torres, the Raleigh police officer, will be laid to rest on Saturday.