Nigel Edge, 40, is charged with murder, attempted murder and assault in connection with a mass shooting Saturday night at the American Fish Company in Southport.
A man charged with firing an assault rifle from a boat at patrons of a North Carolina waterfront bar, killing three people and wounding five others, was a decorated Marine combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient whose last assignment was with a Wounded Warrior battalion.
Nigel Edge, 40, is scheduled to appear in a North Carolina courtroom Monday after being charged with murder, attempted murder and assault in connection with a mass shooting Saturday night at the American Fish Company in Southport, a historic port town about 30 miles south of Wilmington. The hearing was set to take place at 2 p.m. at the Brunswick County Courthouse.
Five people remained hospitalized Monday. None of the victims‘ identities have been released.
Authorities said Edge piloted a boat close to shore, stopped briefly and opened fire at a crowd of vacationers and other patrons in what Police Chief Todd Coring called a „highly premeditated“ targeted attack.
He was arrested about a half an hour later after a U.S. Coast Guard crew spotted him pulling a boat from the water at a public ramp on Oak Island, where he lives.
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Director Chip Hawley said at a news conference Monday that law enforcement officers „got the confession“ from the suspect. He did not elaborate.
It was not immediately known whether Edge has a lawyer who can speak on his behalf. He was scheduled to appear in a Brunswick County courtroom Monday afternoon.
Edge, who was born in Suffern, New York, and changed his name from Sean DeBevoise in 2023, told police he was injured in combat and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, Coring said.
Oak Island Chief Charles Morris said he was known to officers who frequently saw him by the town pier, and that Edge had filed „numerous lawsuits“ against the department and town in recent years.
