The Raleigh Police Department on Thursday released video footage from police-worn body cameras that show a chaotic scene as officers cornered the suspect who shot and killed five people, and wounded two others, in the Hedingham Neighborhood on Oct. 13.
Nicole Connors, Raleigh Police Officer Gabriel Torres, Mary Marshall, Susan Karnatz, and 16-year-old James Thompson were the victims who died.
North Carolina law prohibits the release of police-worn body camera footage without the approval of a court. On Oct. 24, the Raleigh Police Department petitioned the Wake County Superior Court for its release, which was approved on Nov. 10.
The Raleigh Police Department edited, produced and released four videos, each posted to YouTube. Three of them are raw footage from body-worn cameras, and the fourth is a compilation of two videos.
One of the videos released is footage from the body camera worn by Raleigh Police Officer Casey Joseph Clark, who suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound from the suspect — 15-year-old Austin Thompson.
The videos show Clark getting shot at 6:44 p.m. and then being pulled to safety by his fellow officers. The videos also show responding law enforcement — including Sgt. K.M. Smithey and Officer D.M. Garner of the Raleigh Police Department — exchanging gunfire with Thompson, but footage of police apprehending and arresting him was not released.
Officers can be heard talking and discussing strategy in the early portions of the video. They are behind a fence and near a few farmhouses in a heavily wooded area off McConnell Oliver Drive.
“We’re probably not far off,” one officer says. “Guys are getting a little tired, but we got to at least keep walking.”
“We’re on the track,” another says.
“Yea. Let’s push,” another officer says.
The group of officers hop over the fence, then draw their weapons and clear the first building they see. Seconds later, shots are fired from a building several yards away that has a garage attached to it. Clark is hit and immediately goes down. On and off for about 20 seconds, officers exchange gunfire with the suspect. No other officers were hit. The video footage shows K-9 officers approaching the building as some other officers take cover.
About a minute later, officers call EMS to the scene and are also shouting commands at the suspect from outside the building he is in.
In the footage from Clark’s body-worn camera, he tells his fellow officers that he was shot in the right knee. They apply a tourniquet to his leg.
“I’m nauseous, but I’m good,” Clark says.
“You’re going to be alright, brother,” another officer tells him.
Clark was one of seven people shot by the suspect. In addition to the deceased, Marcille Gardner was also wounded by a gunshot.
Officers secured the suspect in handcuffs at 9:36 p.m., nearly three hours after Clark was shot. He was found on the ground in the building, suffering from a gunshot wound. Found on him or around him was a handgun, a shotgun, shotgun and rifle ammunition, and a large hunting knife.
The suspect, Thompson, was moved from WakeMed’s Raleigh campus to a rehab facility last month. His motives are still not known.
