(NewsNation) — At least five people have been killed, including an off-duty police officer, in a shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina. The suspect has been arrested.
Officials in Raleigh provided an update Friday morning.
“There are several families in our community waking up this morning without their loved ones,” said Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin. “We grieve with them today.”
The suspect, a 15-year-old white male juvenile, was arrested by Raleigh Police at 8:37 p.m Thursday and as of Friday morning, is in critical condition, according to Chief of Raleigh Police Estelle Patterson,
She also listed ages and names of the adult victims killed.
- 29-year-old Gabriel Torres, the off-duty police officer
- 52-year-old Nicole Connors
- 49-year-old Susan Karnatz
- 35-year-old Mary Marshall
- 16-year-old unidentified male
Knightdale High School Principal Keith Richardson released a statement, identifying one of the victims as a student at the school.
“We have learned that junior James Thompson was killed in yesterday’s tragic shooting on the Neuse River Greenway. It is an unexpected loss and we are saddened by it. Our condolences, thoughts, and prayers go out to James’ family, the other victims, their families and all who have been impacted by yesterday’s events.”
The suspect’s motive is not clear yet.
“My heart is heavy because we don’t have answers as to why this tragedy occurred,” said Patterson,
There were also two injured in the incident, one of whom is in critical condition and has been identified as 59-year-old Marcille Gardner. The other injured person was another off-duty officer, 33-year-old Casey Joseph Clark, who has been treated and released from the hospital, according to ABC 11.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper also spoke at the conference, and others in attendance included North Carolina Department of Public Safety Eddie M. Buffaloe Jr., Raleigh City Manager Marchell Adams-David, Raleigh Fire Chief Herbert Griffin.
Police say the motive for the shooting is still under investigation.
“All of us in Raleigh right now need to come together,” Baldwin said Thursday.
Baldwin said she wanted action to be taken so other mayors would not have to endure mass shooting situations in their communities.
“We have to end this mindless gun violence that is happening in our country,” she said.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called the shooting a “senseless, horrific and infuriating act of violence.”
“Tonight, terror has reached our doorstep, the nightmare of every community has come to Raleigh,” Cooper said.
The Raleigh Police Department and other local, state and federal agencies responded to the scene in the Hedingham neighborhood around 5 p.m. Police closed roads in the neighborhood and were seen searching the area.
The shooting occurred in a neighborhood near the Neuse River Greenway, a 27-mile paved trail that runs through portions of the city. A local golf club in the area closed its course and directed all golfers inside for safety during the shooting, WNCN reported.
The Raleigh shooting was the latest in a violent week across the country. Five people were killed Sunday in a shooting at a home in Inman, South Carolina. On Wednesday night, two police officers were fatally shot in Connecticut after apparently being drawn into an ambush by an emergency call about possible domestic violence.
Police officers have been shot this week in Greenville, Mississippi; Decatur, Illinois; Philadelphia, Las Vegas and central Florida. Two of those officers, one in Greenville and one Las Vegas, were killed.
Thursday’s violence was the 25th mass killing in 2022 in which the victims were fatally shot, according to The Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killings database. A mass killing is defined as when four or more people are killed excluding the perpetrator.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.