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.
Five victims remained hospitalized Monday. 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.
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. Legal records indicate Edge had turned to the court system in recent years to air a variety of perceived grievances.
Among a number of recent local and federal lawsuits, one filed May 12 accused an area church of trying to make him commit suicide. In another, he made numerous claims against his parents, including that they’d falsified a birth certificate. His military service records indicate he served from 2003 to 2009 and earned multiple medals, including the prestigious Purple Heart.
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.
Five victims remained hospitalized Monday. 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.
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. Legal records indicate Edge had turned to the court system in recent years to air a variety of perceived grievances.
Among a number of recent local and federal lawsuits, one filed May 12 accused an area church of trying to make him commit suicide. In another, he made numerous claims against his parents, including that they’d falsified a birth certificate. His military service records indicate he served from 2003 to 2009 and earned multiple medals, including the prestigious Purple Heart.
