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A 15-year-old suspect was in critical condition Friday following a fatal shooting in North Carolina that killed five people, including a police officer, Raleigh’s police chief said.
The suspect was taken into custody, Raleigh Police Department Chief Estella Patterson said at a Friday news conference. She did not say how the suspect was critically injured and said police are still investigating a motive for the shooting.
The shooting happened along a walking trail in residential neighborhood of North Carolina’s capital city Thursday. The suspected shooter eluded officers for hours before he was arrested, authorities said.
“My heart is heavy because we don’t have answers as to why this tragedy occurred,” Patterson said, adding, “We mourn and share the loss of not only our officer, but all the victims of the senseless gun crime.”
Gov. Roy Cooper called the shooting an “infuriating and tragic act of gun violence.”
“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,” Cooper said.
Here’s what’s known about the shooting.
What happened in the Raleigh shooting?
The shooting started Thursday around 5 p.m. along the Neuse River Greenway, a residential area northeast of downtown Raleigh, said Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin at a news conference Thursday.
The 15-year-old first shot and killed two people in the streets of Raleigh’s Hedingham neighborhood, then fled toward a walking trail where he shot five more people, killing three of them, authorities said Friday.
People were told to stay in their homes as police searched for the shooter. The crime scene stretched for two miles, Patterson said Friday. Hours after shooting began, multiple law enforcement agencies cornered the shooter in a home and arrested him before 9:40 p.m.
Authorities evacuated two community centers and a nearby elementary school during the standoff, Patterson said.
Was the shooter identified?
Authorities described the shooter as a white 15-year-old male. He was hospitalized in critical condition, according to Patterson. “I’m so thankful for the quick response, and that we were able to apprehend (him) and get him into custody very quickly,” she said.
The shooter’s name was not released and Patterson did not say how the suspect was injured.
Who were the victims?
The five people killed were between 16 and 52 years old, according to Patterson.
Police identified the victims as Nicole Conners, 52; Susan Karnatz, 49; Mary Marshall, 35; Raleigh Police Officer Gabriel Torres, 29; and a 16-year-old boy.
Torres was killed while on his way to work, Patterson said.
A 59-year-old and and 33-year-old Raleigh police officer were injured. The officer was released from the hospital, while the other injured victim remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday, authorities said.
What was the shooter’s motive?
Investigators had not determined a motive for the shooting Friday, Patterson said.
Was this considered a mass shooting?
Thursday’s shooting was this year’s 25th mass killing in which the victims were fatally shot, according to The Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killings database.
Mass killings database:Revealing trends, details and anguish of every US event since 2006
A mass killing is defined as when four or more people are killed, excluding the perpetrator.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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