Raleigh shooting: Five dead after gunman opens fire on walking trail in North Carolina neighbourhood
Five people have been killed by a shooter who opened fire along a walking trail in a North Carolina neighbourhood.
The suspect eluded officers for hours on Thursday night, before he was cornered in a home and arrested, police said.
An off-duty police officer was among those killed by the suspect in the North Carolina capital of Raleigh.
Police described him as a white, juvenile male.
He was arrested around 9:37pm local time, authorities said. His identity and exact age weren’t released.
The gunfire broke out around 5pm along the Neuse River Greenway in a residential neighbourhood northeast of the downtown area, Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said.
Police swarmed the area, closing roads and warning residents to stay inside while they searched for the shooter.
Two people, including another police officer, were taken to hospitals. The officer was later released, but the other survivor remained in critical condition.
Allison Greenawalt, 29, who lives in the neighbourhood, said she was sitting on the couch with her cat around 5 p.m. when she heard “three shots in a pretty rapid succession.”
She said police arrived quickly, adding she was grateful that they were there during the chaotic hours while she sheltered inside.
“I was sitting in our house with the lights turned off and the windows closed for the majority of the evening, just waiting to hear that” the shooter had been arrested, she said.
Authorities didn’t offer any details on a motive.
“Tonight, terror has reached our doorstep. The nightmare of every community has come to Raleigh. This is a senseless, horrific and infuriating act of violence that has been committed,” Governor Roy Cooper told reporters.
The city's Mayor joined Gov. Cooper in decrying the violence.
“We must stop this mindless violence in America, we must address gun violence,” Ms Baldwin said. “We have much to do, and tonight we have much to mourn.”
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, and in 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 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.
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