North Carolina Shooting Kills 5 People, 15-Year-Old Suspect Under Police Custody

The police chief of Raleigh, North Carolina, declared on Friday that the suspect in the gun attack that claimed the lives of five people was a juvenile male.

According to a Reuters report, the police claim that the gunman was in critical condition. Authorities claim that the shooter started shooting while strolling down a path in North Carolina and evaded police for hours until being captured in a house and taken into custody.

Terror Reaches Doorstep

The motive of the North Carolina shooting is still unknown, the police said, per ABC 11 Eyewitness News. The police have identified the five victims as follows:

Nicole Connors, 52
Susan Karnatz, 49
Mary Marshall, 35
Gabriel Torres, 29
One 16-year-old

These are the wounded individuals, who were still being treated at Wake Med as of Friday morning:

Marcille Gardner, 59
The 15-year-old shooting suspect

The 33-year-old police officer, Casey Joseph Clark, sustained injuries from the North Carolina shooting but was later discharged from the hospital. A Department of Homeland Security memorandum confirms that a 15-year-old was detained after receiving life-threatening injuries. As of the present report, it is unclear whether or not the suspect injured himself.

Authorities were seen examining a house close to the scene of the incident early on Friday morning. They claimed he was taken into custody at 9:37 p.m. local time (Friday, January 17, 01:37 GMT). According to Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, a shooting erupted near the Neuse River Greenway Trail in a residential area.

Officers from law enforcement agencies flooded the area, blocking roads and ordering locals to stay indoors as they looked for the shooter.

"Tonight, terror has reached our doorstep," said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who condemned the gun attack, calling it a "senseless, horrific, and infuriating act of violence."

The swift and coordinated efforts of local and state law enforcement have the suspect in custody and we are thankful for their efforts. We mourn for the victims of this horrific and infuriating act of violence. - RC
— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) October 14, 2022

Raleigh Mayor Baldwin joined Cooper in condemning the shooting. She said that the "mindless" gun violence in America should be stopped. "We have much to do, and tonight we have much to mourn," Baldwin noted, per ABC News. The Raleigh Police Department tweeted for people in the area "to remain in their homes" as the fatal event was taking place.

Mass Killings Continue

The Raleigh shooting was the most recent in a week of violence around the US. On Sunday, a gunman opened fire inside a residence in Inman, South Carolina, killing five people.

On Wednesday night, two Connecticut law enforcement officers were fatally shot after being ambushed by a domestic violence call. Greenville, Decatur, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and central Florida all saw police officer shootings this week. There were two fatalities among the police officers: one in Greenville and another in Las Vegas.

Based on the information gathered by the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University, the Raleigh shooting was the 25th mass killing incident this year, wherein victims were shot dead, according to Al Jazeera. A mass killing is "when four or more people are killed," except the culprit.