Jennifer Gould

Armed with a shotgun and handgun, he then stalked the Hendingham neighborhood and Neuse River Greenway, picking off victims who never saw him coming.

The fallen include off-duty Raleigh police officer Gabriel Torres, 29, who was shot in his car, Mary Marshall, 34.

killed while walking her dog.

Nicole Connors, 52, gunned down on her porch, and Susan Carnatz, 49, who was murdered while out for a jog.

Thompson was eventually cornered in a barn after a five-hour standoff, suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head that left him with permanent severe brain injury.

In a three-page court filing,

Thompson's attorneys admitted that while the teen's brain damage leaves him, quote, unable to explain his homicidal motives, end quote, he accepts full responsibility for the, quote, unquote, deep pain he caused.

Thompson faces five counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder for the wounding of Marcille Lynn Gardner and Officer Casey Clark.

Because he was a juvenile at the time of the killings, he is ineligible for the death penalty under state law, but is staring down the barrel of life without parole.

The teen's father, Alan Thompson, has already pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for the negligent storage of the firearms used in the bloodbath.

His motive remains unknown.

And finally, talk about a parenting masterclass in doing the right thing.

In Lovejoy, Georgia, Laquan Stevens, 16, found out that blood isn't thicker than the law in the ultimate reality check.

The teen's dad made the heartbreaking choice to turn him in after a two-day manhunt, an amazing parental pivot to school his son.

Dad's house is not a safe house for suspects.

Stevens is accused of blasting another kid in the face and neck through a car window, plus a second separate shooting spree.

While the teen tried to play hide-and-seek with the GBI, his father decided to play by the rules

which meant calling the precinct.

Instead of enabling a fugitive, this dad chose justice over a jailhouse, proving that sometimes the most inspiring act of love is tough love.

Nancy.