Raleigh, NC — After a prolonged legal battle, the family of a Raleigh police officer who was fatally shot in a 2022 mass shooting has been awarded workers’ compensation benefits. Officer Gabriel Torres was killed in the line of duty as he was preparing to head to work, a situation that initially led the city to deny his family’s claim for benefits.
The tragic events unfolded on Oct. 13, 2022, in the quiet Hedingham neighborhood, where Officer Torres was living. As residents were going about their typical Thursday afternoon routines, chaos erupted when 15-year-old Austin Thompson began firing at people in the streets before escaping toward a popular nearby trail, the Neuse River Greenway, where he continued his rampage. The violence resulted in five deaths and left two injured, ending hours later when Thompson was found hiding and suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
At the time of the attack, 29-year-old Torres, a former U.S. Marine and relatively new to the Raleigh Police Department, was off-duty but chose to respond to the gunfire he heard while on his way to work, according to testimonies.
The critical issue in the subsequent workers’ compensation claim filed by Torres’ widow, Jasmin, was whether Torres was officially on duty during the incident. The city initially refused the claim early in 2023, on the grounds that Officer Torres was not yet at work and not in uniform. In contrast, attorneys for Jasmin Torres argued that he was effectively on duty, given his actions to address the active shooter situation.
This month, the North Carolina Industrial Commission settled the matter by declaring that Officer Torres was acting in his capacity as a police officer when he was killed. The commission stated that Torres was not engaged in personal activities at the time but was reacting to a violation of the law with the intention to investigate the gunfire.
Jasmin Torres, during her testimony, recounted that she had asked her husband to wait for her and their daughter before he left for work, moments before the shooting interrupted their call. She testified finding her husband’s vehicle positioned strategically to survey the area from where the gunshots were sounding, an action confirming his intent to intervene.
In their decision, the commission ruled in favor of Jasmin Torres, directing the city to compensate her with $321.48 weekly for 500 weeks, totaling $160,740, coupled with the same weekly amount to their daughter until she reaches the age of 18. The compensation was made effective from the date of the incident, and it includes a lump sum payment for the accrued amount since then. The city was also mandated to cover up to $10,000 in funeral expenses.
Previously, the commission had determined that Torres should receive $200,000 in death benefits as he was confirmed to be murdered in the line of duty — a recognition influenced by recent changes in state law prompted by this case.
Meanwhile, the shooter, Austin Thompson, has faced charges including five counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, with his trial postponed to 2026.
The same week of the Raleigh shooting witnessed several other deadly incidents nationwide, reflecting a distressing period for law enforcement officers across the country, including fatal attacks in Connecticut, Mississippi, and Nevada, and police injuries in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Florida. These events underscore the unpredictable dangers police officers face, accentuating the complexities surrounding the definitions and interpretations of “duty” in such critical and spontaneous circumstances.