Benjamin Ashford|Father of teenage suspect in North Carolina mass shooting pleads guilty to gun storage crime

RALEIGH,Benjamin Ashford N.C. (AP) — The father of a teenager accused in a 2022 mass shooting in North Carolina’s capital city that left five people dead pleaded guilty Wednesday to storing improperly a handgun that authorities said was found with his son after the shootings.

Alan Thompson, 61, appeared to cry as he entered the plea to the misdemeanor charge in Wake County court, news outlets reported. District Court Judge Mark Stevens, who gave him a 45-day suspended jail sentence and a year of unsupervised probation, called the matter “a case of epic tragedy.”

Thompson’s attorney said in court there were no warning signs that Austin Thompson -- accused of five counts of murder as well as other charges -- would commit violence. The shootings happened when Austin was 15, and among the five people killed was his older brother.

Austin Thompson is scheduled to go to trial in September 2025 and faces life in prison if convicted.

“As a parent, Alan is living the unthinkable, he has lost both his sons and still doesn’t know why this happened,” said Russell Babb, a lawyer representing Thompson’s father and mother.

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Authorities have alleged the Oct. 13, 2022, killing rampage began when Austin Thompson shot and stabbed 16-year-old brother James in their east Raleigh neighborhood. He then shot multiple neighbors, including an off-duty Raleigh police officer on his way to work, according to police.

Dressed in camouflage with multiple weapons strapped to his belt, Austin Thompson was located by law enforcement in a shed near a public greenway and arrested after an hours-long standoff. Investigators have said a handgun and a shotgun were used in the shootings.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Luke Bumm said Wednesday a handgun found in the shed belonged to Alan Thompson. According to Bumm, Alan Thompson kept the loaded 9 mm handgun in an unlocked box on a bedside table. The gun was consistent with evidence around the earliest victims, Bumm said. Alan Thompson was initially charged last year.

Babb said Austin Thompson showed no signs of violence, and that his father spoke with Austin twice on the phone in the moments leading up to and after the mass shooting.

“He did not seem agitated,” Babb said. “He did not seem angry. He did not seem upset.”

Babb said Alan Thompson spoke to him while driving home from work, and that he asked if he needed anything while he stopped to get a gallon of milk. Thompson then saw police cars rushing toward the Hedingham neighborhood and called again to tell Austin Thompson to “hunker down,” according to Babb.

Police initially wouldn’t let Alan Thompson enter the house, Babb said, and first responders told him his older son was killed and his younger son was missing. Babb said he assumed his younger son had gone to pursue the killer but that’s when an officer told him “Austin was not chasing the shooter. Austin was the shooter.”

“Alan never in a million years thought his own family member would behave this way, he is heartbroken,” Babb said.

Also killed in the shootings were Officer Gabriel Torres, Mary Elizabeth Marshall, Nicole Connors and Susan Karnatz. Two other people were wounded during the shootings, including another officer. Austin Thompson is also accused of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer.

Investigators seized 11 firearms and 160 boxes of ammunition — some of them empty — from the Thompson home, according to search warrants. Wake County’s top prosecutor has said Austin Thompson had a self-inflicted gunshot wound when he was captured.