SOUTHPORT, N.C. — Prosecutors are weighing the death penalty for a Marine veteran they allege was the rifle-wielding “lone wolf” who opened fire from a boat on a waterfront bar in Southport, North Carolina, over the weekend, killing three people and wounding eight others in what police described as a “highly premeditated” attack.
The suspect, 40-year-old Nigel Edge, is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Monday afternoon, officials said.
Edge, who changed his name from Sean William Debevoise in 2023, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder. He is also charged with five counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or injure.
ABC News has confirmed with the United States Marine Corps that Edge served nearly six years in the Marines from September 2003 to June 2009, and was awarded the Purple Heart. He was deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005 and 2006 and ultimately rose to the rank of sergeant, officials said.
Photos that surfaced on Sunday appear to show Edge once escorted American Idol singer Kellie Pickler to the 2012 Country Music Awards while dressed in his formal Marine uniform.
The mass shooting in Southport happened just 12 hours before another Marine veteran who also served Operation Iraqi Freedom allegedly rammed his truck through the front doors of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and opened fire on the congregation with an assault weapon, killing four people and injuring eight, authorities said. The suspected Michigan gunman was killed in a gunfight with police.
During a news conference on Sunday, North Carolina authorities alleged that Edge targeted patrons of the American Fish Company on the Southport waterfront, who were on an outdoor deck listening to live music when the suspect opened fire with an assault rifle from a boat.
Nigel Edge (pictured) was arrested for allegedly shooting at Southport waterfront bar, killing three people on Saturday, Sept. 28.
(Photo: Southport Police Department)
“Some facts that we have at this time are that we believe this was a targeted location. It appears that he acted as what we call a ‘lone wolf.’ He acted alone,” Southport Police Chief Todd Coring said at the news conference. “This is highly premeditated from what we’re seeing at this time.”
Edge was detained by the Coast Guard about a half-hour after the 10:25 p.m. shooting, when he was spotted loading his boat at a public boat ramp in Oak Island, North Carolina, just a few nautical miles from the crime scene, officials said. After being questioned by investigators, Edge was arrested and charged with the shooting.
“We understand that this suspect identifies as a combat veteran. He self-identifies. Injured in the line of duty is what he’s saying. He suffers from PTSD. We want to point those facts out,” Coring said.
Marine officials did not release details on the circumstances that led to Edge being awarded the Purple Heart, but did disclose that his last duty assignment was with the Wounded Warriors Battalion East.
Jon David, the local district attorney, said during Sunday’s news conference that more charges could be filed against Edge and that his office is considering the death penalty.
“I will say that North Carolina is a state for which the death penalty is a potential, and my office does seek it in appropriate cases,” David said. “I have a team of senior prosecutors that meets as part of a death penalty review committee, and we make sure that we thoroughly evaluate the facts and the law on a case-by-case basis.”
A motive for the Southport shooting remains under investigation. However, David said finding a motive is not essential to prosecuting the suspect.
“People frequently want to know what happened and why. As prosecutors in a courtroom, we have to prove intent. Intent and motive are very different things,” David said. “We don’t actually have to prove motive. We don’t know why people do what they do.”
David added that the thread connecting the victims in the shooting “appears to be a love of having a good time and enjoying all that Southport has to offer.”
“Sadly, a lot of the victims in this case appear to be not members of our community, but people who were here on vacation,” David said.
He said that other than a few minor brushes with the law, Edge “wasn’t quite as well known in the criminal court system.”
“There are some minor contacts over the years, but nothing significant in his past which would give us any indication that he was capable of such horror,” David said.
