NASHUA, N.H. – During a wedding at a New Hampshire country club on Saturday, a gunman unleashed gunfire, resulting in the death of one individual and injuries to two others, authorities reported. A suspect has been apprehended.
The victim, who lost his life at the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, was identified as Robert Steven DeCesare, aged 59, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella and Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke.
Authorities named the suspect as 23-year-old Hunter Nadeau and stated he has been detained and charged with second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of DeCesare.
“Further charges are anticipated, especially concerning the additional victims of the shooting,” Formella and Rourke mentioned in a joint statement. They added that Nadeau is expected to appear in court at the Ninth Circuit Court in Nashua on Monday.
Authorities had initially thought there could be two shooters but later said there was only one.
New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley said investigators are actively working to establish a motive. Authorities indicated no known link between Nadeau and DeCesare.
Information on the wounded victims’ conditions was not immediately available.
Tom Bartelson from Pepperell, Massachusetts, present at the country club, recounted a chaotic scene near his nephew’s wedding. He reported hearing the shooter declare “the children are safe” and “free Palestine,” seemingly targeting a particular individual.
“Getting together for a dance for the bride and groom and then all chaos went off,” he said. “We heard about six shots and everybody ducked for cover and next thing you know we’re rushed into safe spots and things like that.”
He said some people dropped to the ground and attempted to get away from the scene. There was a lot of panic, he said.
“We were trying to keep family members safe,” he said. “Keep everybody down and try to find safe spots.”
The mother of DeCesare, the man who was killed, had earlier described not being able to find her son after he was shot.
“He went down. My daughter-in-law and granddaughter escaped … They saw my son go down and they saw blood,” the mother, Evie O’Rourke of Salem, New Hampshire, said.
Emily Ernst, who was at the scene, said she saw a gunman in all black.
“He had a mask on. We just saw him raise the gun and then we ran,” Ernst said. “I ran through the kitchen for my life.”
Aerial video from WMUR-TV showed multiple emergency responders heading to the scene. Later, Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess said he had faith in police to “get to the bottom of this and bring the perpetrator to justice.”
He added: “I think the message is for every community out there is that no matter how unlikely it seems it can happen where you live.”
U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander said in a statement that she was “closely monitoring the tragic reports of a shooting tonight at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua” and that her heart was with the victims, their families and the community.
Nashua is about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northwest of Boston, just across the Massachusetts border.
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Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine.
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