SOUTHPORT, N.C. (AP) — The three people killed during a mass shooting last weekend at a waterfront bar in a southeastern North Carolina community have been identified as two out-of-state residents and a third who had recently moved to the coastal town.
City government released the names of the victims who died from Saturday night’s shootings at the American Fish Company in Southport, located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Wilmington. Five others were injured. City spokesperson ChyAnn Ketchum said late Wednesday it was her understanding that the five remained hospitalized.
The city identified those killed as Joy Rogers, 64, of Southport; Solomon Banjo, 36, of Charlottesville, Virginia; and Michael Durbin, 56, of Galena, Ohio. The names of those wounded weren’t released.
Soon after the shootings, authorities arrested Nigel Edge, a decorated Marine veteran, and charged him with three first-degree murder counts along with five attempted-murder and five weapons-related assault counts. Edge, 40, remained held Wednesday in the Brunswick County jail without bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 13.
Authorities have said Edge piloted a boat close to shore, stopped briefly and opened fire at a crowd of vacationers and other patrons in what Southport Police Chief Todd Coring previously called a “highly premeditated” targeted attack. An arrest warrant alleged that Edge used an AR-style rifle with a silencer and scope.
Edge was arrested about a half an hour later after a U.S. Coast Guard crew spotted him pulling a boat from the water at a ramp on Oak Island, where he lives. The investigation remains active, and Southport police said Wednesday they were still seeking information from people who went to the bar Saturday or the day before.
Edge has not entered a plea. The county’s top prosecutor described during Edge’s court hearing Monday the defendant as having “significant mental health issues” after experiencing a traumatic brain injury. Edge, who changed his name from Sean DeBevoise in 2023, told police he was injured in combat and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, Coring said.
District Attorney Jon David said his office would review whether seeking the death penalty is appropriate in his case.
In a statement provided this week to television stations by her husband, Joy Rogers was described by her family as influenced deeply by her Christian faith. Rogers — who was born and raised in California — and her family had moved to Southport about a year ago to enjoy retirement, the statement read.
“In that short time, she touched countless lives in her community,” the statement says. “She lived up to her name — her spirit radiated joy, light, and kindness everywhere she went.”
Her husband, Lennie Rogers, says he was also at the bar Saturday night, but he was not injured, WECT-TV reported. Others who said they were at the bar described an evening of live music and fun obliterated by the gunfire.
“Everyone was dancing, having a great time, it was just wonderful, it was a night on the water,” Alisa Noah told WWAY-TY. “Until it wasn’t.” Noah and a coworker were patronizing the bar with the coworker’s sister.
Another bar patron, Phillip Bowen, said he heard a “pop pop” that he expected to be fireworks.
“Instead I heard another pop and a white light come out just above the transom of the boat,” Bowen said. Music and crowd chatter gave way to screams and gunfire, WECT reported.
Bowen said he met Edge several years earlier and heard about his military service and his struggles.
At the time, “I just wanted to listen to him and thank him for his service and not have pity on him for the way he was, but just show him respect and show him love,” Bowen said. “And it’s obvious he didn’t get enough of that.”
Records show Edge served in the military from 2003 to 2009, achieving the rank of sergeant. A 2017 story in the Wilmington Star-News described DeBevoise as a Marine sniper who said he had been left for dead after being shot four times, including in the head, during a raid on a warehouse in Iraq in May 2006.