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A gunman accused of carrying out an ambush at a North Carolina waterfront restaurant, killing three people and wounding eight more, may have been thwarted the night before when a bar patron’s video captured him lurking in the water.
Authorities say Nigel Max Edge, 40, carried out a “highly premeditated” ambush Saturday night at the American Fish Company, a waterfront restaurant and bar in Southport. Police say Edge allegedly opened fire from a boat just off the deck, killing three people, including Joy Rogers, a recently retired mother of three.
But according to newly reviewed cellphone video, obtained by PEOPLE, the suspect may have first attempted the assault on Friday, during a performance by local musician Dane Britt.
Britt’s wife, according to PEOPLE, stepped outside during the concert to record a video when her camera captured a boat shrouded in darkness in the water.
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“She noticed a man on board who ducked behind something when she pointed the camera toward him,” Britt told the outlet, adding that prosecutors now believe the suspect was Edge, lying in wait. “I’m absolutely convinced her filming made him call it off. That video saved lives.”
The following night, the suspect returned to the popular waterfront spot and carried out the ambush, authorities said. Investigators revealed that Edge allegedly used a .300 Blackout Sig Sauer rifle equipped with a suppressor and scope, and also carried a .380 handgun.
Two deputies responded on a sheriff’s department boat after the shooting, later spotting Edge as he walked to retrieve his boat trailer, authorities said. Deputies moved in and detained him as he backed the trailer in to pull his vessel from the water.
He is facing three counts of first-degree murder, along with multiple counts of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. A judge denied bond, citing him as both a flight risk and a danger to the community. Edge is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 13 for a probable cause hearing. He requested a public defender.
“Had she not been out there with that camera,” Britt told PEOPLE, “there’s no telling how many more people would be dead today.”
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Family and friends are mourning the victims, including Rogers, who had recently moved to Southport from California to begin her retirement with her husband, Lennie.
“She was a devoted wife, a loving mother and a friend to everyone she met,” her church community said in a statement.
Police Chief Todd Coring said Sunday that Edge has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Coring said that he “self-identifies” as a veteran. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.
“We understand this suspect identifies as a combat veteran. He self-identifies. Injured in the line of duty is what he’s saying, he suffers from PTSD,” Coring said.
Court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital revealed that Edge espoused anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theories. He also accused his parents of being “LGBQT White Supremacist Pedophiles” who falsified his birth certificate, drugged him and tried to profit from him, while tying his alleged mistreatment to the Iraq War, the Abu Ghraib scandal and the Jeffrey Epstein case.
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