What we know about Nigel Edge, the Southport mass shooting suspect

Before being charged with several counts of murder in connection with a mass shooting in Southport, 40-year-old Nigel Edge had been in combat and crossed paths with a popular singer.

Before being charged with several counts of murder in connection with a mass shooting in Southport, 40-year-old Nigel Max Edge had been in combat and crossed paths with a popular singer.

Edge, who previously went by the name Sean DeBevoise, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted first-degree murder, and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon assault with intent to kill inflicting serious injury in connection with a mass shooting that took place at American Fish Company in Southport on Sept. 27.

Three patrons were killed and several others injured at the outdoor bar on Yacht Basin Drive, according to the Southport Police Department.

Here’s what to know about the suspect.

Nigel Max Edge, 40, of Oak Island is charged in connection with a shooting in Southport, NC. (USA Today via Reuters)

Motive remains unknown

Southport Police Chief Todd Coring described the shooting as “highly premeditated” and said the location was targeted. The suspect acted alone and used an assault rifle to commit the shooting, Coring said. By the morning of Sept. 29, no motive had been released.

Nigel Edge lived in Oak Island

Edge lived in Oak Island, according to Oak Island Police Chief Charlie Morris.

“He has been a resident of Oak Island for several years,” Morris said. “He frequently hung out on our pier. Our employees knew him, and so we were familiar with him.”

Morris said that the department was “familiar” with Edge, who had filed several lawsuits against the town and the police department in the past couple of years. Edge legally changed his name in Brunswick County in November 2023, according to court records.

An Iraq war veteran

Edge is a Marine veteran who was wounded in Iraq in 2006. While serving as a sniper, he was shot in the head and hip, ankle and shoulder, according to previous StarNews reporting. Edge came to the Wilmington area after a Veterans Affairs hospital in Tampa, Florida, told him that he would be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. By 2017, he was able to walk with a cane or walker.

Connection to Kellie Pickler

Edge escorted country singer Kellie Pickler to the CMT Music Awards in 2012 in Nashville. Pickler, native of Albemarle, North Carolina, rose to fame as a contestant on season five of “American Idol.”

Edge appeared in his Marine uniform alongside his service dog, Rusty. At the time, Pickler tweeted a picture of them together with the caption, “Me and my date (Sgt Sean Debevoise).”

In a screenshot of a court document shared to Edge’s Facebook account, he alleged Pickler attempted to poison him on the night of the CMT Awards.

According to court documents, Edge filed it under a “hate crime” as “attempted murder (poisoning) of straight man.”

Lawsuits

Edge has filed multiple lawsuits against individuals and institutions in 2025. In January, he filed a complaint against the Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center. Edge accused the hospital of medical malpractice and attempted murder. The case was dismissed in April.

On Aug. 15, a Brunswick County judge filed a gatekeeping order against Edge. The order restricts individuals from “filing new lawsuits or other papers without court approval, when necessary to prevent abuse of the judicial process and protect other parties.”

A hearing for the order was scheduled for Oct. 7.

Unaffiliated voter

Edge is registered as an unaffiliated voter in Brunswick County, according to state voter records. He has not cast a ballot since 2016 in Richmond County outside Fayetteville. Edge voted in New Hanover County in 2008 and a nonpartisan primary in 2010.

Reporting by Daniel Sheehan, Wilmington StarNews / Wilmington StarNews