Three people were killed and at least five others were injured when a gunman on a boat opened fire on patrons at a waterfront bar in a coastal North Carolina town in what police say was a “highly premeditated” attack.
Nigel Edge, 40, was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted first-degree murder and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, Southport Police Chief Todd Coring said at a Sunday press conference.
The shooting, which erupted about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, took place along a popular stretch of bars and restaurants in the historic port town about 30 miles south of Wilmington.
Investigators said the suspect was traveling by boat along the Cape Fear River around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, when he paused briefly in front of the waterfront establishment American Fish Company, and began shooting.
The gunman then fled along the Intracoastal Waterway toward Oak Island. Roughly half an hour later, a U.S. Coast Guard crew spotted a person matching the suspect’s description pulling a boat from the water at a public ramp on Oak Island. The person was detained and turned over to Southport police for questioning, officials said.
Edge is being held at the Brunswick County Detention Center with no bond and is set to be in court on Monday.
Authorities have not given additional details about the attack, only that it was premeditated and that the restaurant was a “targeted” location.
The victims killed in the shooting have not been publicly identified.
Local district attorney Jon David said that among the five people hospitalized, at least one “is now clinging for their life.” Some of the victims were vacationers, he added.
“Evil has come ashore in Southport, North Carolina,” David said. “Ironically enough, at the very place which once served as a backdrop to the movie ‘Safe Haven,’” he added, referring to the 2013 movie.
Oak Island Police Chief Charlie Morris said the suspect was known to police as someone “who frequently hung out on our pier,” and that he had filed lawsuits against the town and police department over the last few years, according to the Associated Press.
The district attorney said Edge had had “minor contacts” with police in the past “but nothing significant in his past which would give us any indication that he was capable of such horror.”
The incident initially drew an active shooter response, with the city urging residents to stay inside and report suspicious activity.
Investigators from multiple agencies — including the State Bureau of Investigation and the Coast Guard — remained on the water and at the scene Sunday to collect evidence and interviewing witnesses. The police chief said there is no longer a threat to the public.
Coring called it “a very tragic night” for the tight-knit coastal community.
Southport is located near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, about 30 miles south of Wilmington.
“We’re a small community, one of the communities where everybody knows everybody,” the chief said. “It’s just a very tragic night.”
