A teenage shooter has shot and killed five people including an off-duty police officer in Raleigh, North Carolina, triggering a massive manhunt for hours before it resulted in the arrest of the juvenile suspect, Charmingpro reports
The camouflaged gunman, ‘aged between 13 and 16’, was armed with a long gun and barricaded himself in a barn during an hours-long standoff with armed police after firing multiple shots on the Neuse River Greenway.
Police, who went door to door trying to find the killer, said the suspect unleashed the terror along a walking trail in North Carolina’s capital city on Thursday October 14, and eluded officers for hours before he was cornered.
The motive for the mass shooting remains unclear and the identities of the suspect and the victims have not been revealed. A police conference is scheduled for 8.30am today local time.
Two others were injured in the bloodbath which started at 5pm, including a canine officer who has since been released from the hospital, and another who remains in a critical condition.
Eyewitnesses told WRAL that they saw the gunman dressed in camouflage clothing with a backpack and black boots, crouching down, and said he was ‘aged between 13 and 16’.
One said:Â ‘He looked like a baby. I just don’t even have the words to explain. This is not OK.’
Raleigh police said at 9.40pm that the ‘white male juvenile’ was in custody following confusion after saying the suspect had been ‘contained’.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said: ‘Tonight, terror has reached our doorstep. The nightmare of every community has come to Raleigh.’
A local resident named Robert said:Â ‘I heard two gunshots, and they were really loud so I knew something was close by, and then I heard three other gunshots.