The
15-year-old white male alleged to have shot five people dead in Raleigh County,
North Carolina will be charged as an adult, prosecutors said Saturday. The
suspect was taken into custody by law enforcement following an hours-long
manhunt on Thursday.

Police say
the shooter covered nearly two miles of area roaming around with a shotgun. One
of the people killed in the attack was an off-duty police officer named Gabriel
Torres, 29, authorities say. Raleigh Police Chief Estella D Patterson said, “My
heart is heavy, because we don’t have answers to why this tragedy occurred.”

Also Read | Joe Biden reacts to Raleigh shooting: ‘We must pass an assault weapons ban’

The other
four who have died in the shooting are: Nicole Conners, 52, Sue Karnatz, 49,
Mary Marshall, 35, and James Roger Thomson, 16.

The
suspect, whose identity has not been revealed, is in a hospital in a critical
condition following a standoff with the police.

The suspect
was dressed in camouflage clothing and carried a camouflage backpack, CNN
reported citing a source aware of the investigation. Following the shooting, a
hand gun and a long gun were recovered, the source said.

United
States President Joe Biden commented on the mass shooting. He lamented the
harrowing loss of Americans to gun violence and once again called for an assault
weapon ban.

Also Read | Parkland school shootings: Four minutes and a lifetime of trauma

“We’ve
grieved and prayed with too many families who have had to bear the terrible
burden of these mass shootings. Too many families have had spouses, parents and
children taken from them forever,” Biden said.

Sue
Karnatz, one of the victims of the shooting, was described by her husband Tom,
as a loving mother to three boys, whose ages are 10, 13 and 14. Describing Sue
as a loving wife, her husband said on social media: “We had plans together of
growing old. Always together. Now those plans are laid to waste.

 Karnatz’s neighbour Christine Harris said she
feels as if her heart had been pierced by the loss, CNN reported. The pair had
met each other last on the day of the shooting when the two were walking their
dogs.