SOUTHPORT, N.C. — A gunman killed three people and injured five others at a packed North Carolina waterfront bar late Saturday in what police described as a “highly premeditated” attack.
Nigel Max Edge, 40, was detained by the Coast Guard and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon Sunday morning.
Southport Police Chief Todd Coring said officers were dispatched to the American Fish Co. around 9:30 p.m. Saturday. According to reports, the shots came from a boat in the waterway outside the bar.
“He acted alone,” Coring told reporters Sunday morning. “This is highly premeditated, from what we’re seeing at this time, and we feel there are no other threats to our community.”
The three people killed were not publicly identified.
Edge appeared remotely for a first court appearance Monday at Brunswick County District Court in Bolivia, North Carolina, where a judge ordered him held without bail.
He was assigned a public defender, who told the court that Edge intends to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. No plea was entered.
Edge is believed to have used a .300 Blackout Sig Sauer rifle with an optic scope and suppressor, which has been recovered by police, prosecutors said. He also had a .380-caliber handgun in his waistband when he was arrested, prosecutors said.
“Things could have gotten even worse,” Brunswick County Assistant District Attorney Jenna Earley told the judge Monday in arguing that Edge should be denied bail.
Edge is alleged to have fled the scene on his boat and headed toward the neighboring community of Oak Island, officials said. He is a resident of Oak Island, where local police said they were aware of him.
A Coast Guard crew detained Edge and turned him over to Oak Island police after, authorities said, it spotted him loading a boat at a public ramp in the town.
Resident Todd Weaver told NBC News that he was near the entrance of the American Fish Co. when he began hearing what he first thought were fireworks. But when the popping sounds grew faster and people started running or dropping down, Weaver realized what was happening.
He called 911 and then walked to the end of the bar, where he saw a “boat going real slow with his lights off.” Weaver said he stayed on the phone with 911 until the boat was out of sight.
“And then I turned around and saw people just laying everywhere that were shot,” Weaver said.
One of Weaver’s friends was grazed in the thigh but released from the hospital after getting stitches, he said. Weaver said he saw one person shot in the head and another person who appeared to be have shot in the stomach.
He is shaken after the shooting, wondering why this would happen to his community.
“And then to see the carnage, I just — you never get that out of your head,” Weaver said. “With somebody shot in the head and sitting there trying to console his wife with her husband dead right beside her.”
Law enforcement officials from the Oak Island and Southport police departments, the sheriff’s office and the State Bureau of Investigation searched Edge’s boat, vehicle and residence. Officials did not provide many details, but they said an assault rifle was found.
Court records show that Edge changed his name in 2023 from Sean William Debevoise.
Coring told reporters that Edge is a “self-described” combat veteran who was injured in the line of duty and has post-traumatic stress disorder.
Edge served in the Marines from September 2003 through June 2009, according to military records. He attained the rank of sergeant and was deployed twice as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Military records show he received numerous awards, including a Purple Heart, a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, a Combat Action Ribbon for Iraq and an Iraq Campaign Medal with two bronze stars.
District Attorney John David said Monday that Edge is a former Marine Corps scout sniper who was injured in the line of duty and has significant mental health issues, including a possible traumatic brain injury.
There is "nothing about his criminal background which suggests he could perpetrate such horrendous crimes," David said.
Edge’s ex-wife, Rachel Crowl, told NBC News that she has not spoken to her ex-husband in about a decade. Court records show their divorce was finalized in 2009.
Crowl said he had been “crying out for help for a long time” regarding his behavior and mental health. Referring to Edge by his previous name, she added that “what Sean did was very wrong.”
“I’m sad for these families. I’m sad nobody helped him and this could have maybe been prevented,” Crowl said.
Oak Island Police Chief Charlie Morris said Edge was known to his officers, as he “frequently hung out on our pier.” He also filed several lawsuits against the town of Oak Island within the last couple of years, Morris said.
David described the victims as vacationers visiting the waterfront bar, where live music was playing.
Prosecutors said Monday that the investigation leads them to believe that Edge intended to carry out the shooting Friday night but was stopped by another boater because his lights weren’t on. Edge left and returned Saturday night, prosecutors said.
Earley, the assistant district attorney, said that Edge initially denied involvement in Saturday night’s shooting but that he eventually made incriminating statements. Prosecutors said investigators have learned that he embraces conspiracy theories, including against people who are close to him.
The yacht basin is in the southeastern corner of the state, “where the Intracoastal Waterway, Cape Fear River and Atlantic Ocean converge,” according to the state tourism organization Visit North Carolina. The basin is lined with restaurants, it says.
David noted that the area served as the backdrop to the 2013 film “Safe Haven,” an adaptation of the popular Nicholas Sparks novel.
“And that name is symbolic of the way in which the people in our community view this area,” he said.
David said the state will consider whether to seek the death penalty. At least two aggravating factors were present: felony murder and premeditation, he said.
The next scheduled court date is an Oct. 13 probable cause hearing.
[SRC] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/3-dead-8-injured-person-shot-boat-north-carolina-waterfront-bar-rcna234168
