Law enforcement stands at the parking lot entrance of the Neuse River Greenway Trailhead at Abington Lane following a shooting in Raleigh, NC, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022.
Ethan Hyman / AP
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Ethan Hyman / AP
Law enforcement stands at the parking lot entrance of the Neuse River Greenway Trailhead at Abington Lane following a shooting in Raleigh, NC, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022.
Ethan Hyman / AP
RALEIGH, NC – Five people were killed by a shooter along a pedestrian street in the North Carolina capital Thursday and evaded police for hours before he was cornered into a house and arrested. , the police said.
A police officer on duty was among those killed by the suspect, who police only described as a young white male. He was arrested around 9:37 p.m., authorities said. His identity and age were not disclosed.
Gunfire broke out around 5 p.m. along the Neuse River Greenway in a residential area northeast of downtown, Mayor Raleigh Mary-Ann Baldwin said. Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies flooded the area, closing roads and warning residents to stay inside as they searched for the shooter.
Authorities said that among those killed was a police officer who was missing. Two other people, including another police officer, were taken to hospital. The officer was later released, but the other remains in critical condition.
Governor Roy Cooper told reporters: “Tonight terror has hit our doorstep.
Authorities did not give any details of a motive, but Baldwin joined Cooper in criticizing the violent behavior.
“We have to stop this mindless violence in America, we have to tackle gun violence,” the mayor said. “We have much to do, and tonight we have much to mourn.”
Brooke Medina, who lives in a neighborhood bordering the green, was driving home about 5:15 p.m. when she saw about two dozen police cars, both marked and unmarked, driving toward a residential neighborhood about a block away from the center. Raleigh city center is about 14 km. . Then she saw the ambulance speeding in the other direction, towards the nearest hospital.
She and her husband, working from home with their four children, started reaching out to neighbors and realized there was a shelter in place.
Medina, who works as vice president of communications at a consulting organization, said the family closed all the curtains, locked the doors and gathered in the upstairs hallway together. The family listened to police scanners and watched local news before heading back downstairs as the danger appeared to have moved further away from their home.
“We’re just going to hide out for the rest of the night and stay vigilant. Let’s keep all our lights on, the doors locked,” she said.
She describes the neighborhood known as Hedingham as a large, tree-lined community filled with single-family homes, two-story apartments and townhouses that are more moderately priced than other areas. other of the Raleigh area.
Medina said she often takes her children on a bike ride along the road during the day, but often carries pepper spray just in case.
“There are so many places people can disappear,” she said.
The Raleigh shooting was the latest in a week of violence 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 appearing to be drawn into an ambush by an emergency call about possible domestic violence.
It follows the shootings of police officers this week in Greenville, Mississippi; Decatur, Illinois; Philadelphia, Las Vegas and central Florida. Two of those officers, one in Greenville and one in Las Vegas, were killed.
Thursday’s violence was the 25th mass murder in 2022 in which victims were shot dead, according to The Associated Press / USA TODAY / Northeastern University Mass Killings database. A mass murder is defined as when four or more people are killed regardless of the perpetrator.
