The man who fired an attack rifle from a boat with a patron at a North Carolina waterfront bar, killing three and wounding five was a veteran of the decorated Marine Combat with a wounded warrior battalion whose final mission was a recipient of Purple Hearts.
Nigel Edge, 40, is scheduled to appear in North Carolina court on Monday after being charged with murder, attempted murder and assault. Mass shooting Saturday night at the American Fish Company in Southport, a historic port town about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Wilmington.
Five people remained hospitalized on Monday. None of the victims’ identities have been disclosed.
Authorities said Edge piloted a boat near the coast and temporarily stopped it, and fired on many vacationers and other patrons in what police chief Todd Coring called a “very planned” target attack.
He was arrested about 30 minutes later after a US Coast Guard crew was found pulling boats out of the water on a public ramp on Oak Island, where he lives.
North Carolina Bureau of Investigation Chip Holy said at a press conference Monday that law enforcement officials “get confessions” from the suspect. He did not elaborate.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Edge had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. He was scheduled to appear in court in Brunswick County Monday afternoon.
Edge, born in Saparn, New York and changed his name from Sean Debevoise in 2023, told police he was injured in the battle and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, Coring said.
Oak Island Chief Charles Morris says he is known to officers who frequently saw him on the town’s pier, and the Edge has recently filed “major lawsuits” against the department and town. One searched for body camera videos from the encounter after the boat trailer was destroyed.
Legal records show that EDGE has relied on the court system in recent years to air various perceived complaints.
Court records show that it was filed May 12 in many recent local and federal lawsuits, which denounced the local church he was about to commit suicide because “he is not an LGBQT or pedophile.”
In another, in 2024, he made many claims to his parents.
“The plaintiff is suffering from war injuries, and he suffers from delusion and PTSD. The VA needs to take care of him!!” his mother, Sandra Lynn Debevoise, wrote in response.
Devices could not be contacted due to comments on Monday. Could not find the phone list.
In a petition to change his name, he stated this reason. “There have been many events in my life that I don’t understand. Therefore, I don’t trust my family and I will feel more comfortable starting my life on a new path with a new name.”
According to military records, he served in the military from 2003 to 2009 and in 2007 he acquired the rank of Sergeant. He was deployed in 2005 and 2006 as part of Operation Iraq’s Freedom and was awarded the Purple Heart. Other awards include the Marine Corps Good Deeds Medal, Combat Action Ribbon (Iraq), and Iraq Campaign Medal with two Bronze Stars.
His final mission was in the injured warrior battalion of Marines in Camp Rejeune’s Marines, records show.
No details about his injuries have been announced. A 2017 news article from Wilmington Star News described Debevoise, who said he was shot four times, including his head, during a raid on an Iraqi warehouse in May 2006, as a Marine sniper, who said he died after being shot four times.
A 2012 post on singer Kellie Pickler’s X account appears to show her in a photo of the suspect wearing a Marine Corps uniform at the Country Music Awards. The photo originally reported by the New York Post was captioned “Me and My Date (Sgt Sean debevoise).”
Pickler could not be reached for comment.
Gov. Josh Stein said the weekend shootings were “further evidence of the need for improvements to fix the broken mental health care system.”
“We know that the vast majority of people with mental health challenges don’t take risks to others, but some can,” Stein said. “There are too many people in our community who have dangerous obsessions and exhibit threatening behaviors that pose a risk.”
The North Carolina Legislature passed a criminal justice reform bill last week after the death of a Ukrainian refugee stabbing wound on a Charlotte commuter train. Stein has yet to say whether he made the bill a law or rejected it.
The law lacks the “Red Flag” Act, which has been promoted over the years by Democrats, to allow judges to steal guns from people who find themselves a serious risk to the community. Stein said he thought such a law was a good idea, but he didn’t know if it was caused in this case.
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Breed reported from NC Thompson’s Raleigh reported that Gary Robertson, New York, reported from Buffalo, New York, contributed from Raleigh, North Carolina
