Raleigh Shooting: Teen’s ‘I Hate Humans’ Note & Search History Revealed
- The motive behind Austin Thompson’s October 2022 mass shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina, which claimed the lives of five people including his brother, began to come into focus...
- The revelation came during a day of emotional testimony, including from Thompson’s father, Alan Thompson, who expressed bewilderment at his son’s actions.
- Beyond the note, investigators presented a detailed timeline of Thompson’s online activity in the months preceding the shooting.
The motive behind Austin Thompson’s October 2022 mass shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina, which claimed the lives of five people including his brother, began to come into focus during his sentencing hearing on Thursday, . A note penned by Thompson, then 15 years old, revealed a chillingly stark rationale: “I did this because I hate humans. They are destroying the planet/earth.”
The revelation came during a day of emotional testimony, including from Thompson’s father, Alan Thompson, who expressed bewilderment at his son’s actions. Prosecutors read the two-page note aloud in court, offering a disturbing glimpse into the teenager’s mindset leading up to the attack. The note included a direct confession to the murder of his brother, James Thompson, stating, “I killed James because he would get in my way.”
Beyond the note, investigators presented a detailed timeline of Thompson’s online activity in the months preceding the shooting. A forensic analysis of his Google search history revealed a disturbing pattern of research into firearms, bomb-making materials, assaults, rapes, and murders – totaling over 1,000 searches. Notably, just a month and a half before the shooting on , Thompson searched, “Can juveniles get the death penalty.”
Surveillance footage played in court showed Thompson’s movements before, during, and after the shooting. Home security cameras captured the moments he fatally shot Nicole Connors and seriously injured Lynn Gardner. Further footage showed him engaging in conversation with an individual on a trail, seemingly attempting to downplay the unfolding chaos, with the other person exclaiming, “There’s a shooter!”
Investigators reconstructed Thompson’s route through the neighborhood and along the Neuse River Greenway Trail, revealing he traveled approximately 2.4 miles in an attempt to evade arrest before ultimately being cornered in a shed. The digital map illustrated the extent of his movements and the duration of the manhunt.
The court also heard testimony regarding a hollowed-out Chapstick tube discovered by Thompson’s father days after the shooting. Inside, Alan Thompson found handwritten scraps of paper that he immediately turned over to law enforcement. According to Sergeant William Tripp, the contents appeared to be “bomb-making design and instructions.”
Despite the evidence presented, Alan Thompson maintained that he saw no prior warning signs of his son’s violent tendencies. He stated, “With Austin, I still love him, but I don’t understand why.” It was also revealed that Thompson’s parents were in the process of separating at the time of the shooting.
The note also contained seemingly contradictory statements. Thompson wrote, “You were the best Dad, I was never bullied in school either,” despite his father recounting at least two instances he characterized as bullying. A particularly unsettling line read, “I don’t like you Mom,” echoing the emotional impact of the tragedy on Thompson’s mother, Elise Thompson, who testified on Wednesday, .
Thompson concluded the note with a defiant assertion of his mental state, stating, “I have no regrets. I’m not mental either. I was sane when I did this.”
Thompson pleaded guilty in January to five counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and one count of assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life with the possibility of parole after 25 years, with a maximum potential sentence of five life sentences plus an additional 1,634 months in prison.
The proceedings were punctuated by emotional victim impact statements, including one from Jasmin Torres, the widow of slain Raleigh police officer Gabriel Torres. She directly addressed Thompson, demanding he make eye contact while she described the shooting as a “monstrous act of planned violence.”
The victims of the shooting were Nicole Connors, Susan Karnatz, Mary Marshall, Gabriel Torres, and James Thompson.
A separate civil case remains ongoing, filed in 2024 by the victims’ families against Thompson’s parents and the Hedingham homeowners’ association. The lawsuit alleges negligence, claiming they were aware of Thompson’s potential threat and failed to take adequate preventative measures. Alan Thompson previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge related to firearm storage, receiving a year of probation for failing to lock a gun box containing a handgun used by his son. His lawyer stated at the time that Thompson’s parents observed no warning signs that would have indicated their son was capable of such violence.