NC mass shooting: Southport police update on victims, arrest

Matter um behind me you'll have remarks briefly from um

Sheriff Chisholm Brunswick County Sheriff's Office uh SBI Chris Brinzel

District attorney John David

Chief Morris with the Oak Island Police Department and Jenna

Early the first assistant with the district attorney's office they're

behind me today to try to uh be here to

answer any questions when I have her talk this through

this morning

So I wanna start off on Saturday December 27th 2025

at approximately 9:30

Members of the Southport Police Department were dispatched the call

of shots fired with multiple injuries at the American Fish

Company at 150 Yacht Basin Drive here in Southport

Reports came in rapidly of a boat sitting in the

waterway uh reports of a subject shooting uh multiple patrons

of the establishment

Unfortunately 3 were wounded uh fatally

Uh we have 5 injured that are area hospitals uh

still receiving care

The boat fled the ICW toward the Oak Island Bridge

Shortly after 10 p.m. uh the Coast Guard observed a

single individual matching the description of the shooter loading their

boat at a public boat ramp in the area of

Northeast fifty-fifth Street on Oak Island

Coast Guard crews detained the suspect

Who was held at the Oak Island Police Department before

being turned over to uh several members there including the

Southport Police Department Brunswick County Sheriff's Office Marine Fisheries and

Oak Island Police Department also the FBI that were assisting

us in these various locations

Suspect is a now Max edge

He's been arrested and charged with 3 counts of first

degree murder

5 counts of attempted first degree murder and 5 counts

of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill

inflicting serious injury

There are additional charges pending

This is still a very active investigation

Uh but there's a couple of things that I want

to point out uh to you today before I turn

it over to some of these individuals behind me

Some facts that we have at this time is that

we believe that this was a uh targeted location

Uh we appear uh that he acted in a what

we call a lone wolf

He acted alone Uh this is highly premeditated from what

we're seeing at this time

And we feel there are no other threats to our

community that we do have someone in custody

So that's what's important that I want the community to

know that we do have someone in custody and we

feel like we have no other threats at this time

Still a very active investigation

I want to point that out

Uh we're asking that anyone who was at the establishment

last night those who may have been at the establishment

on Friday night to call our office the Southport Police

Department at 910-457-7911

Again when we arrived last night it was a very

chaotic scene

We had people that had fled the scene before officers

were arriving

We did have some injured that walked into our local

hospital here on Hale Street

So we are still trying to uh get these folks

in

We need to talk with them anyone who may have

video of the incident we're asking you to reach out

to our police department again call us at 910-457-7911

Uh we understand this uh

Suspect identifies

As a combat veteran he self identifies uh

Injured in the line of duty is what he's saying

he suffers from PTSD

Uh we want to point those facts out um but

again the bottom line is that I want to assure

our community that we feel like we do have our

suspect in custody

And uh again we're asking for your assistance so those

are two of the things I want to make sure

and reiterate before I turn the uh microphone over to

Sheriff Chisholm uh to please call our office if you

have any videos or if you were there last night

and we have not talked to you

We've been talking to multiple people again we've had an

outpouring of support from multiple agencies

Some 60 to 80 officers were were here last night

helping us and we had still a lot of folks

here that are uh continuing with this investigation

So at this time I'll turn the uh mic over

to Sheriff Chi

Good morning

As Chief Co mentioned Our hearts and prayers and thoughts

go out to the family of the victims of this

tragic incident

We stand with Southport PD

This is the place that I grew up

So it's a place that I hold near and dear

to my heart like many people in this room

And I want all of you in this room I

challenge you do not let this define Southport

You have great men and women standing behind me and

I am so proud

Of my Co-workers and Southport PD SBI all the federal

partners Oak Island PD everybody that came and responded and

came together to get this guy in custody so quickly

I am very proud of them and my heart goes

out to them because they were here they had to

see this

Just know that we have

All of our resources and they're available to Southport PD

And I just wanna thank again all the partners that

were there last night and the ones that are here

today

And for the quick response and

Just Quick end to this tragedy

Thank you

Uh Charlie Morris um the Oak Island Police Department uh

thank you Sheriff

Uh just to reiterate a couple of things that that

the sheriff and Chief Coring said uh we have a

close knit community here

Uh I certainly do not want this incident to define

who we are because that is not us

This is a person that has acted

Alone we feel confident right now even though we're in

the preliminary stages of the investigation we feel like that

this person acted alone and there was no and there's

no one else involved

Uh last night uh our witnesses that were on the

scene uh

Observed a white center console boat travel travel south or

southwest uh leaving the area

Our Coast Guard partners were patrolling along with our sheriff's

office and encountered a boat down at the fifty-fifth Street

boat access in Oak Island

The officers got out and made contact with Mr

Edge and as a result of that during the investigation

he was he was detained and taken into custody

Another thing that I would like to reiterate is yes

he is a Nigel Edge is a resident of Oak

Island

uh we are familiar with him uh at the police

department uh so uh I want to acknowledge that as

well

So uh I don't think I have anything else but

uh God bless our victims God bless our community

And uh we wish our victims that are are suffered

uh the uh injuries a speedy recovery

Good morning Chris Brunzell special agent in charged with the

State Bureau of investigation

Um I don't think it could be said enough and

I join our partners in offering our prayers to the

families of the victims who were murdered and injured last

night during these tragic events that happened in Southport

Um I wanna thank the men standing behind me and

all of our local state federal

And every other partner that we have US Coast Guard

that responded last night without these partnerships we would not

be able to stand in front of you uh to

announce the arrest of this individual today

I also want to commend the men and women from

all over the county and all over the state that

responded to this incident last night

Uh it's through their hard work that we're able to

make this happen

Thank you

Good morning

My name is District Attorney John David

Evil has come ashore in Southport North Carolina

Ironically enough at the very place which once served as

a backdrop to the movie Safe Haven

And that name is symbolic of the way in which

the people in our community view this area

The thin veneer of peace and tranquility which has enveloped

this idyllic waterfront community was shattered last night by gunfire

that came from the water

When the dust settled 8 people were shot 3 of

them are dead and at least 1 is now clinging

for their life

I want to tell you that the group of people

that stand behind me now awoke this morning with a

firm resolve to seek maximum justice in this case

I will tell you that the men and women of

law enforcement worked quickly and in team like fashion to

give us the tools that we need to be effective

in a courtroom

And that process will begin literally tomorrow with the first

appearance of Nigel Edge

Now there's a lot that prosecutors under the rules of

North Carolina's professional rules are not permitted to say

We can talk a lot more about process than we

can about facts but you know something about the core

nucleus of operative facts

I want to tell you a little bit about what

the road ahead looks like

But before I do that let me say first and

foremost that my office prides itself on something that we

refer to as the police prosecutor team approach

It's a highly collaborative process that requires us at the

front end to work uh very closely

Um I personally arrived at the scene at about 11

o'clock last night

I saw with my own eyes the horror which has

occurred in this case

I was joined by my first assistant Jenna Early my

investigator Charlie Lyles

And I'm so grateful for the incredible law enforcement response

the incredible response to the first um the the the

the first arriving medical folks who did their best to

limit further damage and loss of life

It was really heartening to witness that play out in

real time

So tomorrow we are going to be in a courtroom

and then and for the first time we're going to

be able to talk about the facts in the fullness

of time the truth will emerge in a courtroom and

that's where I'm going to be doing the majority of

my talking

Um he will be given a first appearance

He is currently charged with 3 counts of first degree

murder uh 5 counts of attempted murder and 5 accounts

of assault with a deadly weapon intent to kill inflicting

serious injury

I anticipate that additional charges could be forthcoming

And so we are going to be moving forward in

that process tomorrow

Uh he is currently held without bond

It is my hope and expectation that that will remain

tomorrow and throughout this process

Um I will say that North Carolina is a state

for which the death penalty is a potential and my

office um does seek it in appropriate cases

I want you to know that there is a process

in place within my office to scrupulously review the facts

and circumstances of every homicide offense that comes through our

door

I have a team of senior prosecutors that meet as

part of a death penalty review committee and we make

sure that we thoroughly evaluate the facts and the law

on a case by case basis

We do that to ensure that we make our decisions

on the basis of the fact and law and not

emotion because it should go without saying this is a

very emotional time for a lot of people and we

want to continue to embrace the process that has served

us so well over the 15 years that I've been

fortunate enough to be your elected district attorney

To sort of paint the picture of what occurred last

night um the incident location where this occurred the American

Fish Company which I've already indicated to you was quite

literally the backdrop for the movie Safe Haven um had

live music going on last night

There is an outdoor deck which faces the water

And there was a lot of people out there last

night just enjoying live music under the stars

The thread that connects everyone who's a victim in this

case to this point just appears to be a love

of having a good time and enjoying all that Southport

has to offer

Sadly a lot of the victims in this case appear

to be not members of our community but people who

are here on vacation

And just to anticipate one of the questions that I

imagine that you have that's one of the very reasons

why when we took out these warrants early this morning

we used only initials for people's names rather than their

full name

Some of the victims' families live out of state and

as district attorney I wanted to ensure that we made

proper notifications to them before they're hearing about it on

the news

And so that is one of the reasons why the

arrest warrants that you have contain only initials at this

juncture tomorrow I expect they're going to be hearing more

about potentially the identity of some of the victims and

you're going to hear more of the facts that underlie

the investigation but I can't overstate how quickly this investigation

unfolded

very heartened by the fact that law enforcement was able

to make an immediate apprehension

I'm confident based on what I now know that we

got the right guy and that he acted alone

I will tell you that we ask for some grace

because we're only in the 1st 14 hours of this

investigation and in my experience as being a prosecutor and

I'm now in my 30th year of being a prosecutor

facts frequently change they evolve and so I allow for

the possibility that we're going to learn um substantial new

information in the coming days and weeks

But having said that I think we now know um

a core nucleus of operative facts and I feel very

confident as I stand before you today that law enforcement

has given us the tools that we need to be

effective

With that we will entertain a couple of questions again

with the guard rails in place being facts are still

being developed and there's a lot we can't say consistent

with the ethical rules under 3.8 and 3.6

So are there any questions Yes ma'am

In fact he did um the uh Mr

Nile Edge actually um changed his name some years ago

and um so we're looking to identify um you know

all of his past um and there's gonna be questions

about uh his his past uh you know uh Chief

Morris already said that he's a resident of Oak Island

and he was well known to law enforcement he wasn't

quite as well known in the criminal court system

There were some minor contacts over the years but nothing

significant in his past which would give us any indication

that he was capable of such horror

There have been a number of civil suits that he's

instituted against people and he's had some minor brushes with

the law but to this point we're unaware of any

significant criminal history

Again we're going to check out of state

It's early on in the investigation but as I stand

before you today I'm unaware of that

Yes ma'am

do you think this is kind of a one off

situation Yes so the question is is this common in

your area I'll tell you that um violent crime is

virtually nonexistent uh in the city of Southport

This is an idyllic waterfront community that really enjoys a

reputation for being a very peaceful and tranquil place

Um again I've been a prosecutor for 30 years

I've started out my career in Miami Florida and then

I was for a decade an assistant district attorney in

Wilmington North Carolina so I'm not unacquainted

Uh with violent crime bad things happen to good people

wherever you live and I'm reminded of that today uh

but this would be remarkable anywhere but particularly in a

place that was called safe haven

Yes sir

So the question was asked is there a motive at

this point And let me be clear um people frequently

want to know uh what happened and why as prosecutors

in the courtroom we have to prove intent intent intent

and motive are very different things

We don't actually have to prove motive

We don't know why people do what they do

You can chase the ghost of Y all over a

courtroom and never catch it

Um that's going to be part of a comprehensive investigation

as we look towards his reason for doing this but

we have to prove criminal intent and not motive

Yes ma'am

So that's a fact-specific question

I'm going to allow Chief Corry to to talk a

little bit more about the facts if that's something that

he chooses to do but I hope you understand as

a prosecutor I can answer that

But Chief is there anything you wanna say about it

Firearms Again it's early in the investigation but we we

know that it's an assault rifle um but I have

not looked at uh anything else pertaining to the weapons

right now

Um questions for Chief Morse

If you could just is there anything more you can

say about you know to you guys how I can

do So uh yes uh we were familiar uh with

Sean he has been a resident of Oak Island for

several years

Uh he frequently hung out on our pier

um our employees knew him and uh so yeah we

were we were just familiar with him

He has uh filed a lawsuit sent numerous lawsuits on

the town on the police department uh within the last

couple of years

Yes sir

Did Uh yes yes

Yes ma'am

Yeah so we executed the search warrant last night uh

in collaboration with the FBI in Southport and the sheriff's

office and his vehicle was searched along with his boat

and residence

uh and I won't go into specifics about what was

uh recovered

However there were firearms and if the FBI would like

to elaborate on that a little more since they are

the they are the uh agency that took possession of

those weapons I'll let them discuss that

What was he doing when he was

The the Coast Guard arrived what was Loading the boat

out of the water as you get

We even go out Yeah so the question is you

know when he was encountered by the Coast Guard and

law enforcement uh what was he doing Uh that information

was put out last night um about the boat which

is very vague

That's a very vague description

There was no other descriptions other than a white center

console boat that was that we were able to push

out

Uh our Coast Guard partners uh which the Coast Guard

station is in very close proximity to here uh we're

patrolling uh the area along with the sheriff's office and

as they were patrolling they located a white boat um

at our boat access our fifty-fifth Street boat access

At the time of his encounter they were he was

loading the boat up and that's the the and then

that's when we engaged him in a conversation and ultimately

took took him into or detained him and then ultimately

took him into custody

And he lives on Oak Island or is off

Yes he is a resident that lives on the island

Yes sir

Yes

So were they all Yeah I I'm not gonna speak

on that

I'll let Chief Coring or the SBI will defer that

question to them

Thank you

Yes

Uh no I I don't have that

Chief horn would be more appropriate to answer that question

Chief let me say yes did you say You know

I I think it's important to um let you know

why it is we have so many different law enforcement

agencies at a local level assembled behind us

Um Brunswick County is um the fastest growing of the

100 counties in North Carolina

We have 60 miles of coastline and 19 municipalities

Several of those municipalities um have sufficient tax base to

be able to

Afford their own local law enforcement agencies and so the

sheriff's office blankets the entire county

They have overlapping and concurrent jurisdiction over everything that happens

in the municipalities and one of the unique features of

this case is that the shooting occurred in the city

limits of Southport but the apprehension happened in Oak Island

for a resident that lives in Oak Island

Uh there's going to be um a a very comprehensive

investigation that takes place not only by the sheriff's office

that blankets the entire county but also by the State

Bureau of Investigation

Um they are an assisting agency and at my request

in a matter of uh Todd Coin and Sheriff Brian

Chisholm they were asked to come in last night and

assist us in processing the crime scene and conducting critical

interviews

Um so that's the team of people that we have

assembled um and again I know that there's gonna continue

to be a lot of questions on people's minds about

what has occurred and those those answers will emerge in

the fullness of time but I wanna circle back to

where we started which is uh keeping the victims and

their families in the thoughts and prayers of of all

of us in this community

Uh this is truly a devastating incident uh for those

of us we're not just professionals we're we're residents of

Brunswick County

And our hearts and prayers are with the people that

not only live here but just enjoy our space

Um they they are some of them are literally fighting

for their life right now um in in hospital rooms

so please continue to lift them up and and keep

them in your thoughts and prayers uh them and their

families you know there's gonna be a lot of vicarious

trauma and the ripple effects of crime cannot be overstated

You know this impacts you know not just the people

that were shot but their families this community indeed this

nation

Yes sir we'll take one more question

Um it was said that he was hanging out in

the water like an hour before this

Was he waiting for something a moment or something before

he acted So the question was um was he waiting

in this water and you're gonna hear a little bit

more about that in a courtroom tomorrow but um it's

already been said during this conference that we have developed

um evidence in an early stage that this was highly

premeditated in nature and and um you're gonna hear more

about that in the in the road ahead

Guys thank you we appreciate your time

OK No