Suspect in North Carolina Shooting Pushed Anti-LGBTQ Conspiracies
Nigel Max Edge is accused of killing three and wounding eight at a Southport waterfront bar before being arrested nearby.
Authorities say the alleged gunman in a mass shooting at a North Carolina waterfront restaurant — which left three people dead and at least eight injured — reportedly embraced anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theories.
The shooting took place around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 27, at the American Fish Company in Southport, North Carolina, a popular waterfront bar that once appeared as a filming location for the movie Safe Haven.
Investigators allege that the suspect, 40-year-old Nigel Max Edge, was piloting a white center-console boat through a busy stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway lined with bars and restaurants. From just off the American Fish Company’s deck, he allegedly opened fire on the crowd, according to Fox News.
Chaos erupted as bullets struck people on the deck, sending patrons scrambling for cover. After unleashing multiple rounds, Edge reportedly sped away in his boat.
Jon David, district attorney for Bladen, Brunswick, and Columbus counties, said many of the victims appeared to be vacationers visiting the area.
Two deputies responding on a sheriff’s department boat later spotted Edge as he walked to retrieve his boat trailer. They arrested him at the 55th Street boat ramp in Oak Island as he backed the trailer in to pull his boat from the water.
“We believe this was a targeted location,” Southport Police Chief Todd Coring said during a Sunday press conference. “[The gunman] acted as a lone wolf. He acted alone. This is highly premeditated from what we’re seeing at this time.”
Police have not specified a motive for the shooting but said that Edge — who changed his name from Sean William DeBevoise in 2023 — was already known to law enforcement in Oak Island, the nearby town where he lives.
Edge, a former Marine Corps sergeant and scout sniper who was injured in Iraq and suffers from PTSD and other mental health issues, has not yet entered a plea. He faces three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder, and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon — charges that could expand and carry the death penalty if convicted.
During a preliminary court hearing on September 29, a judge denied Edge bond, citing him as both a flight risk and a danger to the community.
Over the past year, Edge filed multiple civil lawsuits against individuals and organizations, many of which reflected paranoid, anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theories.
In a federal lawsuit last year, Edge claimed he was targeted by the “LGBQT” community in an alleged pedophile sex ring and accused his parents of being “LGBQT White Supremacist Pedophiles.” He tied those claims to the Iraq war, Abu Ghraib, and Jeffrey Epstein. A federal judge dismissed the case in March, citing no legal basis, according to Fox News.
In January, Edge sued a hospital, a doctor, and a woman for alleged malpractice, claiming they were part of an “LGBTQ White Supremacist” conspiracy to kill him. The case was dismissed in April, according to NBC affiliate WRAL.
In May, Edge sued the Southport-based Generations Church, accusing it of “human trafficking” him and trying to murder him through poisoning or pushing suicide. He claimed he was targeted with “continual hate crimes” because he was not gay, alleging the church was part of an LGBTQ-led conspiracy to kill him. The case was dismissed earlier this month.
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