Parties in Hedingham mass-shooting lawsuit at an impasse, mediator says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Mediation attempts in the civil suit tied to the Hedingham shooting were unsuccessful.
- Five people were killed and two were injured in the Oct. 13, 2022, mass shooting.
- The case is set to go to trial in July.
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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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More than nine hours of attempted mediation in the Hedingham civil suit were unsuccessful, according to a report filed Tuesday.
The lawsuit, filed in October 2024, alleges the Oct. 13, 2022, mass shooting in Raleigh’s Hedingham neighborhood could have been prevented by several people and companies, including the property management company and the private security company for the neighborhood.
Austin Thompson, who was 15 at the time, killed five people and seriously injured two in the rampage. He was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole last month after pleading guilty to all of the charges against him.
Thompson’s parents, the Hedingham Community Association, and the security guard who was on duty that evening are also defendants in the case. The deceased victims’ estates, excluding that of Thompson’s older brother, and the two surviving victims are the plaintiffs.
All of the parties reportedly met Friday for nine hours and 30 minutes to discuss potential settlements, according to the mediator’s report. Those discussions resulted in an “impasse,” the mediator wrote. Each party will have to pay $1,700 for the mediator’s services.
The case is set to go to trial in July, though a hearing remains to be scheduled for the property management company’s motion to compel the plaintiffs to provide more thorough discovery responses. That motion also accused the plaintiffs’ lawyers of using a “hallucinated case citation” in court filings and submitting responses without requiring the plaintiffs to verify they were accurate, The News & Observer previously reported.
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This story was originally published April 1, 2026 at 9:38 AM.
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