Raleigh, North Carolina (CNN) — A 15-year-old will be charged as an adult for allegedly carrying out a mass shooting that left five dead Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina, prosecutors said, as calls to curb gun violence in the United States are renewed once once more. .
The suspect, identified by police as a young white male, was taken into police custody Thursday following a manhunt that lasted hours.
The more than 2-mile-long crime scene in Raleigh’s Hedingham neighborhood also left two people injured in the attack, authorities said. One of the five victims who died was an off-duty Raleigh police officer, Gabriel Torres, 29, on his way to work, authorities said.
“My heart is heavy as we have no answers as to why this tragedy occurred,” said Raleigh Police Chief Estella D. Patterson.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told CNN on Friday that her office intends to charge the suspect as an adult.
The suspect is hospitalized in critical condition following his arrest Thursday night following a standoff with police, authorities said. Freeman said his office is monitoring the suspect’s condition.
As authorities investigate, few details have been provided regarding exactly how the shooting unfolded.
In one of four 911 calls obtained by CNN, a caller told a dispatcher that the shooter was wearing camouflage and appeared to be 16 years old. The caller said the gunman “walked by and shot” a police officer “for no reason.” Another caller reported that two neighbors had been shot. A third caller reported that a “kid running around here with a shotgun” shot a person and “ran back into the woods.”
The suspect was wearing camouflage clothing and was carrying a camouflage backpack, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. After the shooting, a pistol and a long gun were recovered, according to the source.
The other victims who lost their lives were identified as Nicole Conners, 52; Susan Karnatz, 49; María Mariscal, 35, and James Roger Thompson, 16.
Victims Sue Karnatz, L and Mary Marshall
The two victims who were injured include a police officer who responded to the call, who was later released.
Marcille Lynn Gardner, 59, remains in critical condition, Patterson said.
The mass shooting prompted a response from President Joe Biden, who mourned the heartbreaking loss of Americans to gun violence once once more and reiterated his call to ban assault weapons.
“Enough,” Biden said. “We have cried and prayed with too many families who have had to bear the terrible burden of these mass shootings.
“Too many families have had spouses, parents and children taken away forever,” the president added.
Families and a grieving community
Biden’s comments come as the Raleigh community mourns the sudden loss of loved ones and neighbors.
Karnatz, one of the slain victims, was described by her husband, Tom, as a loving wife and mother of three boys, ages 10, 13 and 14.
“We had plans together to grow old. Always together. Now those plans have been spoiled,” he wrote on social media Friday.
Christine Hines, who is a neighbor of Karnatz, said she feels as if the loss has pierced her heart. The couple had seen each other the day of the shooting while walking their dogs.
Marshall, another victim who died, was also walking her dog when she heard gunshots, her sister Meaghan McCrickard told CNN.
After hearing the gunshots, Marshall called her fiancé to tell him regarding the shooting and said she would come back to the house, McCrickard said.
“She was my hero despite being my little sister,” McCrickard added. The sisters were three years apart.
Marshall, a Wake Technical Community College culinary arts alumna, was described by teachers and classmates as “a hard worker with a good attitude and determination to succeed,” the school said in a statement.
Thompson was a junior at Knightdale High School when he was fatally shot Thursday, Principal Keith Richardson said in a statement.
“It’s an unexpected loss and it saddens us,” Richardson said, noting that counseling and crisis services are available to students and staff.
Police on the scene at Castle Pines Dr. and Sahalee Way following a Thursday night shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday.
“It might have been us,” says teen
Those who witnessed some of the violence also described their anguish at what their neighbors suffered.
One resident, who asked not to be identified, stood with her 15-year-old daughter as she recounted police cars, ambulances and fire trucks descending as a neighbor approached.
“She looked like she had seen a ghost,” the resident said. “She came up to us, and I asked her, what happened, and she said, ‘I just witnessed my neighbor get shot in the driveway.’ She was completely in shock.”
The resident and her daughter locked themselves in a room following being told by an officer in an unmarked car that there was an active shooter.
“I started crying,” her daughter recalled. And on Friday morning, she cried once more.
“Imagine what people are going through,” he said. “And the fact that she was so close to us. It might have been us.”
McCrickard, Marshall’s sister, expressed her frustration that gun violence has not been more curtailed.
“We want to take this unimaginable opportunity to plead with our local, national and country leaders to finally step up and do something regarding gun control,” McCrickard said. “Being a leader is regarding leading and making decisions that benefit, support and keep our country safe. How many times do we have to hear our leaders say, ‘We’re sorry’ and ‘Something has to be done?’ We demand action.”
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper echoed Biden’s sentiments following the shooting, saying the Raleigh community’s pain is unimaginable.
“I was sad. We’re angry and we want to know the answers to all the questions,” the governor said. “Those questions will be answered. Some today and some more over time. But 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.”
CNN’s Ray Sanchez, Justin Lear, Melissa Alonso, Dave Alsup, Paul P. Murphy, Steve Almasy, Jamiel Lynch, Sara Smart and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.