Veteran Allegedly Opens Fire at N.C. Bar, Killing 3, Wounding 5

"Evil has come ashore in Southport," said Brunswick County's district attorney after a shooting at a waterfront bar that officials say was "highly premeditated."

Sept. 29, 2025

5 min read

What to know

Southport police arrested a 40-year-old combat veteran who allegedly opened fire with an assault rifle on a waterfront bar Saturday night, killing three and wounding five before fleeing by boat.
The suspect was apprehended minutes later at an Oak Island boat ramp, and police recovered multiple weapons from his home, car and boat.
Authorities described the shooting as "highly premeditated," and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is leading the case.

By Josh Shaffer and Jessica Banov

Source The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.

Police in Southport charged a 40-year-old combat veteran with first-degree murder after a shooter opened fire on a popular waterfront bar Saturday night, killing three and wounding five more before fleeing by boat.

Officers in nearby Oak Island apprehended Nigel Max Edge loading his boat on a public dock shortly after the shooting, said Southport Police Chief Todd Coring, adding that the suspect “suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Coring described the shooting as a targeted act of violence committed by a “lone wolf,” and was “highly premeditated,” assuring the public no further threat exists.

“Evil has come ashore in Southport,” said Brunswick County District Attorney Jon David in a Sunday news conference. “Ironically enough, at the very place that once served as a backdrop to the movie ‘Safe Haven.’ That movie is symbolic of the way people in our community view this area.”

About 9:30 p.m. Saturday, a boat with one person aboard paused outside the American Fish Co. along the Cape Fear River and fired multiple shots at the dockside night spot, according to Southport Police. David said a live band was performing at the time and the victims, some of them vacationers, were united only by their desire to have a good time under the stars.

“The thin veneer of peace and tranquility that enveloped this waterfront community was shattered last night,” David said.

Shortly after the shooting, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted a suspect matching the shooter’s description loading a boat at a public ramp in Oak Island, police said. Oak Island Police Chief Charles Morris said officers searched Edge’s house, boat and car and found multiple weapons, now confiscated by the State Bureau of Investigation.

Corin said the shooter used an assault rifle.

What we know about the Southport shooter

Court records in Brunswick County show Edge has a history with Oak Island police, who came to his house there early this year. Authorities say Edge identifies as a “combat veteran ... injured in the line of duty and suffers from PTSD.”

Morris said police knew Edge well, and that he has filed lawsuits against the department.

“He frequently hung out on our pier,” Morris said. “Our employees knew him.”

David said that while Edge, who legally changed his name from Sean William Debevoise, had brushes with the law in the past, nothing suggested he was capable of violence.

In multiple complaints filed in Brunswick County courts, Edge repeatedly describes himself as a victim of an LGBTQ conspiracy.

In one of those filings from April, Edge filed a complaint against two people he accused of trying to poison him. He stated in court documents that he had been “human trafficked” by an LGBTQ conspiracy, adding that he was set up to be murdered in Iraq as a “hate crime,” then taken to the Abu Ghraib prison to be water-boarded.

The complaint from Edge detailed he was “shot three times by his own Marines, fragged, hit by suicide vest, urinated on, buried alive, then brought to Abu Ghraib Prison, tortured by waterboarding, disabled by cutting the nerve in his leg, put in a body bagas a drug mule and sent to the U.S.”

Edge continues in the complaint he was later “restrained and had crazy glue put on his eyes, strangled by his mother, then told by medical doctors he was in medically induced coma. Then gaslighted over the years about it.”

A Brunswick County judge dismissed that complaint in August.

Southport, a city of over 4,100 residents, is about 160 miles southeast of Raleigh and 32 miles south of Wilmington. The Southport Yacht Basin is along the Intracoastal Waterway and is home to several riverfront restaurants.

Just north of the South Carolina border, the town also serves as the launching point for the ferry to Bald Head Island, a popular vacation spot.

American Fish Co. bills itself as Southport’s “best waterfront pub,” and was scheduled to have live music on its dock Saturday night. It sits at the southernmost tip of the island.

Sunday afternoon, the bar posted a brief statement on social media and said American Fish Co. and Frying Pan, its nearby restaurant, would be closed indefinitely “as we grieve and seek healing together.”

“Our hearts our broken, and our prayers are with the victims, their families and everyone affected by this tragedy,” the statement said. “Thank you to everyone who has shared kind words and prayers. We hear you Southport and your support means so much to us.”

Many have posted on social media describing Southport as a tight-knit community, noting that they went dancing at American Fish Co. the night before or had relatives scheduled to play music there.

“We stand with Southport,” said Brunswick County Sheriff Brian Chism, offering prayers for the victims at a Sunday morning news conference. “This is the place that I grew up, so it’s a place that I hold dear to my heart. ... I challenge you: Do not let this define Southport. You have great men and women standing behind me.”

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