Why plaintiffs in Hedingham civil suit want judge to rule on 2 defendants now
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- A new motion was filed Friday afternoon in the lawsuit tied to the Hedingham shooting.
- The motion asks for a judge to rule on defendants Capitol Special Police and Nicole Locke.
- The plaintiffs are seeking a judgment on whether those defendants are liable.
The plaintiffs in a lawsuit tied to the Hedingham mass shooting are asking for immediate judgment on two of the defendants, according to a motion filed Friday.
The two survivors and the loved ones of four of the five victims of the Oct. 13, 2022, shooting sued multiple parties involved in the incident or tied to the neighborhood, The News & Observer previously reported. Those parties are:
- Austin Thompson, the shooter, who was 15 when he killed his older brother, James, and four other people. Thompson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in February.
- Elise and Alan Thompson, Austin Thompson’s parents.
- HRW, the property management company for the Hedingham neighborhood.
- The Hedingham homeowners’ association.
- Capitol Special Police, the private security company contracted to patrol the neighborhood the day of the shooting.
- Nicole Locke, the Capitol Special Police employee on duty in Hedingham that evening.
- Roy Taylor, the “chief” of Capitol Special Police. He was dismissed from the suit last year.
Lawsuit alleges negligence
The lawsuit, filed in October 2024, argues that Austin Thompson showed clear warning signs leading up to the shooting and that HRW, the HOA and Capitol Special Police failed the residents they were meant to protect. The case, set for trial in July, is likely to be pushed to January 2027 after all parties asked for a delay last month.
The plaintiffs, who include the two survivors and the estates of all of the deceased victims except James Thompson, are asking for a judge to rule on the Capitol Special Police and Locke’s liability, according to the motion filed Friday.
It argues that Locke was negligent in her duties the day of the shooting, failing to call 911 for 20 minutes after she heard gunfire because she thought someone might have been hunting, according to court documents. Locke was nearly an hour late for her 4 p.m. shift that day, arriving in the neighborhood around the time that Austin Thompson killed his brother, and was unfamiliar with much of the neighborhood, the motion alleges.
Capitol Special Police, meanwhile, should never have assigned Locke to the neighborhood, knowing she’d only worked there once or twice before and that residents had concerns about criminal activity in the area, the motion claims.
“At a minimum, an armed private patrol officer assigned to a residential community has a duty to be present for the assigned shift, patrol as contracted, know the post, and immediately notify law enforcement upon receiving credible reports of gunfire in the neighborhood,” the motion states.
Several other motions also remain pending in the suit, as The N&O reported Friday. That includes the motion to delay the trial to 2027 and a motion by the plaintiffs to compel Capitol Special Police to provide GPS evidence or be sanctioned.
A hearing date had not been formally set as of Monday afternoon, but a hearing could take place Wednesday, May 18 or May 22, according to court documents.
This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 3:25 PM.
