RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Five people were killed by a shooter who opened fire along a walking trail in North Carolina’s capital city on Thursday and eluded officers for hours before he was cornered in a home and arrested, police said.
An off-duty police officer was among those killed by the suspect, who police only described as a white, juvenile male. He was arrested around 9:37 p.m., authorities said. His identity and age weren’t released.
The gunfire broke out around 5 p.m. along the Neuse River Greenway in a residential area northeast of downtown, Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said. Officers from numerous law enforcement agencies 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.
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, Las Vegas and central Florida. Two of those officers, one in Greenville and one 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.
According to studies, the surge in gun violence comes as firearm purchases rose to record levels in 2020 and 2021, marking the number of arms in American hands more than the total American population.
Survey results by the Nork Polling Center show about one-fifth of American adults have experienced gun violence in the past five years, whereas African Americans and Hispanics are two to four times more likely to experience gun violence compared to their white counterparts.