RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Raleigh Police Department said a 15-year-old was responsible for the mass shooting that killed five people and injured two others Thursday night.
The shooting started around 5 p.m. in the Hedingham neighborhood near Osprey Cove Drive and Bay Harbor Drive. Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said Friday morning that the crime scene spanned around 2 miles across the neighborhood.
The suspect first shot a relative of his inside their home. Then he went outside and shot two women in the streets of the neighborhood before running toward the Neuse River Greenway Trail. Before getting to the trail he shot Officer Gabriel Torres, who was on his way to start his shift with the police department.
“He’s an off duty Raleigh police officer. (The shooter) shot him for no reason. He’s bleeding from his chest,” a caller told 911.
Next, the teen made his way onto the greenway trail where he opened fire, killing two more people and wounding two others.
Witnesses said the suspect was armed with a long gun, but investigators have not released any confirmation or specifics about the weapon.
Terror spread through the city Thursday evening as the suspect remained at large for hours with police calling it an active shooter situation.
Eventually an RPD K-9 officer tracked the suspect to a shed where he had holed up after the shootings. Shortly after 9:30 p.m., the teen was taken into custody at Old Milburnie Road and McConnel Oliver Drive. He had life-threatening injuries when he was brought in — investigators said he was in critical condition at WakeMed.
Investigators have not said whether the suspect injured himself or was injured by officers taking him into custody. His identity has also not been released, although ABC News has confirmed that he was a relative of one of the victims he killed.
SEE ALSO: What we know about the victims of the shooting
The shooter’s motive remains unknown. RPD said officers continue to investigate and will release a five-day report as is customary for incidents like this.
“Today we’re sad, we’re angry and we want to know the answers to all the questions,” Gov. Roy Cooper said Friday morning. “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.”
According to The Associated Press, this event was the 25th mass killing in 2022 in which the victims were fatally shot. A mass killing is defined as when four or more people are killed (not including the perpetrator).
In North Carolina, this marks the 123rd mass shooting since 2013. In total, that violence has resulted in 128 deaths and 463 injuries.
Five people died in the shooting, including an off-duty police officer.
Two other people were injured in the shooting — one of them remains in the hospital with critical injuries; the other, who has been released from the hospital, is an officer.
Reaction to shooting
“My heart is heavy because we don’t have answers as to why this tragedy occurred,” Patterson said Friday morning during a press conference. “But what I can tell you is that the Raleigh Police Department and the Raleigh community is resilient and we stand strong and we will heal.”
Many people are still just trying to process what all unfolded in that neighborhood.
“There are several families in our community waking up this morning without their loved ones,” Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said. “No one can imagine what they’re all going through.”
ABC11 spoke with one neighbor who can’t believe what happened.
“Right now I’m just confused, you know? Quiet neighborhood. I ain’t seen so much violence like this in a minute, man. Just shocking, man, you know?” Lavarius Thompson said.
Another resident who spoke to ABC11 said the neighborhood was in shock.
“A lot of police activity, honestly I was actually in the house with my child, my oldest child, and we were hearing a lot of sirens and it was like, kind of alarming because it was more than a couple,”…