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A former Marine who once escorted singer Kellie Pickler to the CMT Awards was identified as the suspect arrested in relation to a deadly shooting at a popular dockside restaurant in North Carolina.
Nigel Edge, 39, who changed his name from Sean DeBevoise in 2023, was identified as a combat veteran allegedly suffering from PTSD when he was detained by authorities on Saturday (September 27) in relation to the shooting that resulted in three deaths and five injuries. Edge reportedly pulled up to the American Fish Company restaurant and shot into a crowd of unsuspecting diners at around 9:30 p.m. local time before taking off up the Intracoastal Waterway.
Edge, along with his service dog, Rusty, escorted Pickler to the CMT Awards in his full Marine uniform as her special date in 2012.
"Me and my date (Sgt Sean Debevoise)," Pickler wrote in a post shared on her X account at the time.
Edge said he was wounded in two separate IED attacks during a 2006 tour in Iraq, as well as suffering a bullet wound that left shrapnel lodged in his head, but as able to recover from severe injuries prior to meeting Pickler at a charity event in North Carolina prior to their CMT Awards date.
American Fish Company has dubbed itself as one of Southport's "favorite hangouts," often featuring live music, which included the band "Bacon Grease" who was reported to be performing at the time of the shooting, according to a post on the restaurant's Instagram detailing its weekend live music lineup.