Live updates: Austin Thompson sentencing phase for killing 5 people in Hedingham in Raleigh

The state has rested its case against Raleigh mass shooter Austin Thompson in the sentence hearing.

The 18-year-old pleaded guilty to killing five people in the Hedingham neighborhood in October 2022. Him and his legal team decided to enter a guilty plea and some additional charges on Jan. 21 in Wake County.

The prosecution's final witness was Dr. Carrie Gibson, an FBI profiler and licensed psychologist.

Gibson spoke generally Friday about what drives someone to commit a mass shooting and said people can follow a pathway to violence without ever committing a violent act prior.

"There is a desire for them to kill or a desire to die," she said. "What we see is that the pathway starts with a grievance. It can be a personal slight, it can be a humiliation, it can be something that's unbearable, it can be real or perceived something that they struggle to move past."

SEE ALSO: Follow our live updates for the Austin Thompson sentencing

The state is trying to prove the mass shooting was premediated, which would carry a stiffer sentence. The judge has already said law requires the court to give special consideration to the defendant's age, at the time of crime, when sentencing.

Many of the victims' loved ones were in court every day after delivering powerful testimony themselves and hearing from Thompson's parents.

"I cannot even begin to describe the pain we feel every day. we've just tried to do the best we can," Alan Thompson said during his victim impact statement.

"We lost both of our children in one afternoon," Elise Thompson said.

The parents apologized to the victim's families and said there were no warning signs ahead of the Hedingham mass shooting.

Lynn Gardner and former Raleigh Police Officer Casey Clark survived.

"I heard a gunshot and I felt like a train going through my knee drops me to the ground," Clark said about being shot in the leg.

"Because of who I am and what I believe in, (it) as given me the grace to forget the young man who shot me," said Gardner.

On Thursday, Austin's apparent confession letter was presented to the court. The note was found in his bedroom on the day of the shooting, reading:

Court will resume Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. and the defense will begin presenting its case. Austin's attorneys are planning to call Elise Thompson back to the stand, and the line of questioning is expected to take several hours.

At 11:13 a.m., the defense started to cross-examine Gibson.

Research shows that in 100% of such cases, she said at least one bystander near the violent individual has witnessed one or more violent behaviors.

At 11:19 a.m., the prosecution asked about motivators other than revenge and whether bystanders always recognize the behaviors they see.

At 11:27 a.m., the state rested its evidence presentation, and the court recessed until Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

At 10:35 a.m., in the FBI, Gibson researches targeted violence, which is planned and prepared, unlike affective violence triggered by emotions. She talks about how it starts with a grievance -- a personal slight or humiliation -- that becomes an individualized problem the person struggles to move past.

"They're in that space where they have a problem, trying to figure out how to solve it and it progresses to the next step,' Gibson said.

Around 10:50 a.m., she talks about violent ideation as focusing on violent options when non-violent solutions seem unavailable, involving suicidal or homicidal thoughts, or consuming violent content. The planning stage in targeted violence can take up to two years, according to Gibson.

At 10:21 a.m., the defense reviews the digital search on Thompson's devices, noting that less than 0.5% of the content involved assaults and shootings.

Sgt. Pike confirms all searched content on Thompson's phone was viewed within two years of the shooting, as Thompson had the phone for less than two years before the crime.

At 10:25 a.m., the state attempts to call Dr. Carrie Gibson, unit chief of the FBI's behavioral analysis unit, as their next witness. The defense objects, arguing Gibson lacks sufficient knowledge of the case to testify at a sentencing hearing. Judge Ridgeway will hear from Gibson but assess the weight of her information.