A gunman opened fire in a New Hampshire, USA country club on Saturday (Sunday AEST) as a wedding was taking place, killing one person and wounding two others, authorities said.
The person who died at the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua was a 59-year-old man identified as Robert Steven DeCesare, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella and Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke.
Authorities identified the suspect as Hunter Nadeau, age 23, and said he had been arrested and charged with one count of second-degree murder for knowingly shooting DeCesare.
âAdditional charges likely will be brought, including for the additional shooting victims,â Formella and Rourke said in a statement.
They said they expect Nadeau to be arraigned 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.
Investigators were still working to determine a motive, New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley said.
Authorities said there is no known connection between Nadeau and DeCesare.
Information on the wounded victims’ conditions was not immediately available.
Tom Bartelson of Pepperell, Massachusetts, who was at the country club, described a chaotic scene that unfolded near his nephew’s wedding.
He said he heard the shooter say âthe children are safeâ and âfree Palestineâ and appeared to be targeting someone.
âGetting together for a dance for the bride and groom and then all chaos went off,â he said.
âWe heard about six shots and everybody ducked for cover and next thing you know weâre rushed into safe spots and things like that.â
He said some people dropped to the ground and attempted to get away from the scene. There was a lot of panic, he said.
âWe were trying to keep family members safe,â he said. âKeep everybody down and try to find safe spots.â
The mother of DeCesare, the man who was killed, had earlier described not being able to find her son after he was shot.
âHe went down. My daughter-in-law and granddaughter escaped.
“They saw my son go down and they saw blood,â the mother, Evie OâRourke of Salem, New Hampshire, said.
Emily Ernst, who was at the scene, said she saw a gunman in all black.
âHe had a mask on. We just saw him raise the gun and then we ran,â Ernst said. âI ran through the kitchen for my life.â
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 âget to the bottom of this and bring the perpetrator to justice.â
He added: âI think the message is for every community out there is that no matter how unlikely it seems it can happen where you live.â
US Rep. Maggie Goodlander said in a statement that she was âclosely monitoring the tragic reports of a shooting tonight at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashuaâ and that her heart was with the victims, their families and the community.
Nashua is about 70 kilometers northwest of Boston, just across the Massachusetts border.
