Raleigh, North Carolina
CNN
—
A 15-year-old will be charged as an adult for allegedly committing a mass shooting that left five dead Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina, prosecutors said, as calls to address gun violence are renewed across the United States.
The suspect, identified by police as a white minor, was taken into custody by law enforcement after a manhunt lasting several hours on Thursday.
The sprawling crime scene more than two miles across the Raleigh neighborhood of Hedingham also left two injured in the attack, officials said. One of the five victims killed was off-duty police officer Gabriel Torres, 29, who shot as he walked to work.
“My heart is heavy as we don’t have answers as to why this tragedy happened,” Raleigh Police Chief Estella D. Patterson said at a press briefing. Friday.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told CNN Friday his office intends to charge the suspect as an adult.
He was hospitalized in critical condition after his arrest on Thursday evening after a confrontation with police, officials said. Freeman said his office is monitoring the suspect’s condition.
While authorities are investigating, few details have been released on exactly how the shooting unfolded.
In one of four 911 calls obtained by CNN, a caller told a dispatcher that the shooter was wearing camouflage and looked 16 years old. The caller said the shooter “walked by and shot” a police officer “for no reason”. Another caller reported that two neighbors had been shot. A third caller reported that a “kid running here with a shotgun” shot a person and “ran back into the woods.”
The suspect was wearing camouflage clothing and carrying a camouflage backpack, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. After the shooting, a handgun and a long gun were recovered, the source said.
The other deceased victims identified by police are Nicole Conners, 52; Sue Karnatz, 49; Marie Marshall, 35; and James Roger Thompson, 16.
Among the two victims who were injured was a responding police officer, who was later released from treatment.
Marcille Lynn Gardner, 59, remains in critical condition, Patterson said.
The mass shooting prompted a response from President Joe Biden, who once again lamented the excruciating loss of Americans to gun violence and reiterated his call for an assault weapons ban.
“Enough,” Biden said. “We cried and prayed with too many families who had to bear the terrible burden of these mass shootings.
“Too many families have had spouses, parents and children taken away from them forever,” the president added.
Biden’s remarks come as the Raleigh community mourns the sudden loss of loved ones and neighbors.
Karnatz, one of the slain victims, was described by her husband, Tom, as a loving wife and mother of three boys, aged 10, 13 and 14.
“We had plans together to grow old. Always together. Now those plans are ruined,” he wrote on social media on Friday.
Christine Hines, who is Karnatz’s neighbor, said she felt like her heart had been pierced by the loss. The couple had seen each other on the day of the shooting while walking their dogs.
Marshall, another victim who was killed, was also walking her dog when she heard gunshots ring out, her sister Meaghan McCrickard told CNN.
After hearing the shots, Marshall called her fiancé to tell him about the shooting and told him she was going home, McCrickard said.
“She was my hero despite being my younger sister,” McCrickard added. The sisters were three years apart.
Marshall, a culinary arts alumnus of Wake Technical Community College, was described by faculty and classmates as “a hard worker with a good attitude and a determination to succeed,” the school said in a statement.
Thompson was a junior at Knightdale High School when he was fatally shot on Thursday, principal Keith Richardson said in a statement.
“This is an unexpected loss and we are saddened by it,” said Richardson, noting that counseling and crisis services are available for students and staff.
Those who witnessed some of the violence also described their anguish over what their neighbors endured.
A resident, who asked not to be identified, stood next to her 15-year-old daughter as she said police cars, ambulances and fire trucks were coming down when a neighbor approached.
“She had seen a ghost,” the resident said. “She comes up to us, and I’m, like, what happened, and she goes, ‘I just witnessed my neighbor being shot in the driveway. She was completely in shock.
The resident and her daughter locked themselves in a room after an officer in an unmarked car told them there was an active shooter.
“I started to cry,” recalls her daughter. And on Friday morning, she cried again.
“Imagining what people are going through,” she said. “And the fact that he was so close to us. It could have been us.
McCrickard, Marshall’s sister, expressed frustration that gun violence has not been further curtailed.
“We want to take this unimaginable opportunity to plead with our local, state and national leaders to finally step up and do something about gun control,” McCrickard said. “Being a leader is about leading and making decisions that benefit, support and keep our country safe. How many times do we have to hear our leaders say, “We’re sorry” and “Something has to be done?” We demand action.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper echoed Biden’s sentiments after the shooting, saying the pain for the Raleigh community is unimaginable.
“Were sad. We are angry and want to know the answers to all the questions,” the governor said. “These questions will be answered. Some today and more over time. But I think we all know the basic truth: no neighborhood, no parent, no child, no grandparent, no one should feel this fear in their community.”