Hedingham shooting victims claim accused shooter won’t discuss mental health
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- The plaintiffs in a civil suit against Austin Thompson claim he won’t answer discovery.
- Thompson allegedly killed five people in the Hedingham neighborhood in 2022.
- His attorneys have said he was intoxicated by therapeutic medication at the time.
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Raleigh mass shooting in Hedingham neighborhood
On Oct. 13, 2022, seven people were shot in Raleigh, NC, in the Hedingham neighborhood near the Neuse River Greenway Trail. Five were killed, including a Raleigh police officer. High school student Austin Thompson was charged with their murders. Read The News & Observer’s ongoing coverage of the mass shooting, Thompson’s guilty plea and ongoing civil lawsuit.
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Survivors and family members of the victims of the Hedingham mass shooting filed a motion Tuesday claiming the accused shooter won’t answer questions about his mental or physical health.
Austin Thompson was 15 years old when police say he killed his brother, then opened fire in the Northeast Raleigh subdivision Oct. 15, 2022, killing five people and seriously injuring two others.
He was also gravely wounded in a shootout with law enforcement officers, sustaining a serious brain injury, according to public statements and court filings by Thompson’s criminal defense attorneys.
The two people who were shot and survived and the families of four of those killed sued Thompson, the Hedingham homeowners’ association, the property management company, the private security company patrolling the neighborhood and Thompson’s parents in Wake County Superior Court last fall. A trial by jury is set for July.
Thompson also faces a criminal trial on five counts of murder and other charges scheduled to begin Feb. 2. His defense attorneys notified the court last month they intend to argue his capacity was diminished because he was taking prescribed medication. They’ll also argue Thompson was voluntarily intoxicated by that medication, according to the notice.
Thompson’s lawyers have never publicly stated which medications he was allegedly taking at the time of the shooting or what conditions he might have sought treatment for. That silence has allegedly extended to the civil trial, according to a motion filed Tuesday by the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Claudia Barceló and Stephen Mickelsen.
Barceló and Mickelsen requested a judge order Thompson’s civil defense attorney to produce answers to their questions about his mental and physical health, according to the motion. Thompson’s civil defense attorney, James Welsh, reportedly told Barceló and Mickelsen in a meeting that Thompson’s criminal defense lawyers would not allow him to answer any questions of that nature.
“In other words, criminal defense counsel is refusing civil discovery even though this Court’s Protective Order plainly permits it and guarantees confidentiality,” the motion states.
A judge had previously ruled in May that Thompson should be deposed and respond to discovery questions, but his answers should remain under seal for the foreseeable future to avoid potentially damaging his pending criminal case.
A hearing had not been set on the motion as of Wednesday afternoon.
This story was originally published November 26, 2025 at 1:25 PM with the headline "Hedingham shooting victims claim accused shooter won’t discuss mental health."
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