NC, Southport, reports of a mass shooting at Southport Yacht Basin, September 27th 2025.

[vls12345]

News Release: Southport Mass Shooting Person of Interest Detained in Oak Island - City of Southport

News Release: Southport Mass Shooting Person of Interest Detained in Oak Island

cityofsouthport.com

 

[cujenn81]

Officials believe Southport shooting was ‘highly premeditated,’ witness speaks out about incident | Port City Daily

SOUTHPORT — A gunman who opened fire on the Southport waterfront Saturday evening remains in custody, as law enforcement continues its investigation into the fatal shootings. At a press conference…

portcitydaily.com

Lots of good information in the linked article originally shared upthread.

Noach has lived in the area for almost a decade and though unfamiliar with Edge said her neighbors are aware of the suspect. They have indicated he is “unhinged,” she described, “someone who should not have access to weapons.”

Police Chief Charlie Morris said Sunday the Oak Island Police Department is familiar with the suspect, who has “hung out on [their] pier” and engaged with employees.

Earlier this year, Edge opened a complaint against the department. He filled out court documents asking for a video recording of the interaction involving an FBI tip that Oak Island PD allegedly dispatched to Edge’s house. It was dismissed.

It sounds like someone possibly reported him to the FBI at some point.

 

[sallye818]

OMG, I and my family were supposed to eat dinner and then go to the American Fish Company for drinks and to hear the band. Due to the weather coming in, we postponed the trip for later on this month. I followed this since it hit YouTube last night. I love this place. Long ago it was a fish house where fish were unloaded right off the boats. You could buy fresh seafood there. Now, it's a neat little bar (not a restaurant) with wide open seating right on the water. You can sit there and watch the boats come in and the dolphins play. This location was the bar used in the movie Safe Haven. All my family have called to see if I was there. I feel very lucky and heartbroken for the families.

@lonetraveler, My husband and I have been going to Southport and OKI for 30+ years. His uncle lived on West St. in Southport til a few years ago. I, too, am shocked at the tragedy of such a quaint and beautiful town. Have been on this riverwalk, pier, and in the restaurants, as well as Provisions, more times than I can count, one of our fav things to do in Southport was to walk on the Riverwalk and the Marina, so right where this occurred. I am so pained for those traumatized in the bar...workers, patrons, band members. Their lives will never be the same. This sick guy's PTSD has now caused PTSD for a myriad of others

 

[Dotta]

@lonetraveler, My husband and I have been going to Southport and OKI for 30+ years. His uncle lived on West St. in Southport til a few years ago. I, too, am shocked at the tragedy of such a quaint and beautiful town. Have been on this riverwalk, pier, and in the restaurants, as well as Provisions, more times than I can count, one of our fav things to do in Southport was to walk on the Riverwalk and the Marina, so right where this occurred. I am so pained for those traumatized in the bar...workers, patrons, band members. Their lives will never be the same. This sick guy's PTSD has now caused PTSD for a myriad of others

IMO

PTSD is NO excuse.
There are therapies, there are MH specialists to help, there are Counseling Centres, etc., etc.
This is 21st century and this is 1st World country.
Those who seek help surely get it.

Murderers are usually good at rationalizing their sick urges.

Who gave them the right to end lives of others?

Nobody!

JMO

 

[rsteen]

I don't know. But, here is one of the court documents of his. He names his parents as defendants & has a footnote saying, "Exhibits attached to the complaint suggest defendants William DeBevoise and Sandra DeBevoise executed a birth certificate identifying plaintiff as “Sean William DeBevoise.”

https://cases.justia.com/federal/di...e/7:2024cv01086/214391/93/0.pdf?ts=1741956735



He alleges a false birth certificate.

So my guess is that in his mental distress and disillusions, he changed his name because he feels his parents are part of a bigger conspiracy against him. MOO.

The language around the "false birth certificate" reminds me of sovereign citizen's terminology. Then some pizzagate-type conspiracy theory. Sounds like he had delusions of persecution/paranoia. His motivation will probably turn out to be completely incomprehensible.

 

[justtrish]

IMO

PTSD is NO excuse.
There are therapies, there are MH specialists to help, there are Counseling Centres, etc., etc.
This is 21st century and this is 1st World country.
Those who seek help surely get it.

Murderers are usually good at rationalizing their sick urges.

Who gave them the right to end lives of others?

Nobody!

JMO

I think this is going to go beyond PTSD.

I also am a military spouse, military mother of 2 who serve this country, daughter and granddaughter of those who have served, so I understand the care that is available during and post military.

There can be many reasons why someone isn't getting the care they need. There are wait times, provider shortages, and red tape when dealing with the VA. I can imagine for someone injured as badly as he was, he could need a lot of long-term care and year after year trying to deal with the VA and often getting told to jump through all their hoops over and over again, it can be draining and result in people giving up. Not saying this is what happened, or this is an excuse, but sometimes it isn't as easy as they have help available. It can be cumbersome to get the help and for a Vet with PTSD and possibly other mental health issues, they aren't always thinking like you or I or someone rational would. I've seen it with my own family members and friends. Having a support system is KEY.. someone to advocate for you when you get tired of it, someone to encourage you to keep going to appointments, to make another one, to call and try again, to keep fighting for yourself. It can wear people down, so they just give up.

Now this is all my opinion but based on the many lawsuits he was filing for things that seem very much made up or imagined by him, it sounds like he is paranoid and possibly having something else mentally going on other than PTSD. It is not PTSD to think people are poisoning you or trying to get you because they are LGBTQ and you are heterosexual.

Reading that one court document with his parents listed and their response was they want him to get mental health help. There needs to be an easier path for someone to be put on a 72 hour hold. It sounds like he needed to be in patient getting some intensive care to figure out if he needed meds or what exactly was causing all this paranoia. It was so very documented in all his lawsuits and instead of just dismissing them, someone should have been able to do something more for him. He was a ticking time bomb.

 

[sallye818]

Agree wholeheartedly with your post, @justtrish

 

[justtrish]

Agree wholeheartedly with your post, @justtrish

It truly is a struggle for many to get the care, for others it's just not having any support outside of the care to help keep them on track. This is NOT any excuse at all for this man's actions. I just think in this case he seemed to be crying for help all over the place. Usually, these individuals just end their own lives and while that is sad, it would be better than what he chose to do. I'd say 99% of these types take their own life and we (general we) have become immune to that. They say 22 Veterans a day take their own life. 22 a day. Sometimes what they have seen/done/experienced is just too much even with help.

 

[Dotta]

It truly is a struggle for many to get the care, for others it's just not having any support outside of the care to help keep them on track. This is NOT any excuse at all for this man's actions. I just think in this case he seemed to be crying for help all over the place. Usually, these individuals just end their own lives and while that is sad, it would be better than what he chose to do. I'd say 99% of these types take their own life and we (general we) have become immune to that. They say 22 Veterans a day take their own life. 22 a day. Sometimes what they have seen/done/experienced is just too much even with help.

Those who are "crying for help" are the families of innocent victims.
And those who suffer from injuries caused by this murderer.

Almost all people have their problems.
Some are crippling, terrifying.
That is reality of life.

I wonder,
if this criminal was suffering from MH issues,
how come he was permitted to own a weapon?

JMO

 

[Inthedetails]

Those who are "crying for help" are the families of innocent victims.
And those who suffer from injuries caused by this murderer.

Almost all people have their problems.
Some are crippling, terrifying.
That is reality of life.

I wonder,
if this criminal was suffering from MH issues,
how come he was permitted to own a weapon?

JMO

If there is one case where the perp suffered mental-health issues, this is definitely one, imo. I don't think he was in touch with reality.

That is not making an excuse for violence, just an observation about the perp.

jmopinion

 

[Dotta]

If there is one case where the perp suffered mental-health issues, this is definitely one, imo. I don't think he was in touch with reality.

That is not making an excuse for violence, just an observation about the perp.

jmopinion

Hmmm...

"Not in touch with reality"
but merrily wandering around not bothered by anyone and carrying a weapon.
(In this case - sailing and shooting random unfortunate folks)

JMO

 

[Inthedetails]

Hmmm...

"Not in touch with reality"
but merrily wandering around not bothered by anyone and carrying a weapon.
(In this case - sailing and shooting random unfortunate folks)

I have no other comments.
I give up.

JMO

I read the lawsuit documents and cannot make ANY sense of his claims. His thoughts are gibberish. He is living in a different world than the rest of us. My opinion.

That is NOT an excuse for what he did or even an explanation. If we're going to see the situation with accuracy, his delusions are part of it, in my opinion.

My opinion, with the acknowledgement that others will disagree with it.

jmopinion

 

[justtrish]

Those who are "crying for help" are the families of innocent victims.
And those who suffer from injuries caused by this murderer.

Almost all people have their problems.
Some are crippling, terrifying.
That is reality of life.

I wonder,
if this criminal was suffering from MH issues,
how come he was permitted to own a weapon?

JMO

Absolutely correct the victims are those innocent people who he harmed. I 100% agree and my comments do not in any way dismiss that his victims are victims. I've said many times it is NOT an excuse. I also think it was clear he was struggling even from those of us who just peak at his FB page and look at those lawsuits. This is not someone that had a legit grievance and filed a lawsuit. I mean one of them he claims a star drugged in 13 years ago at a CMT event. So I think if there was a way to interviene before it got to this point, then this could have been prevented. He was not hiding away and nobody knew he was losing it. He was very public about it, he wrote a book 5 years ago that talk about conspiracies he thinks happened to him.

It's a great question about why he was permitted to have a weapon. He should have been flagged for sure. IMO, he should have likely been in patient getting help somewhere. I think he can also be seen as a victim here. He took a bullet to his head in war for his country and clearly, he wasn't okay.

 

[katydid23]

Oak Island Police Department update, bbm

https://www.oakislandnc.gov/Home/Components/News/News/2140/16

On Saturday, September 27, 2025 at approximately 9:30 PM, members of the Southport Police Department were dispatched to calls of shots fired with multiple injuries at the American Fish Company, located at 150 Yacht Basin Dr, Southport, NC 28461.

Just prior, a boat with a single occupant traveling on the Cape Fear River, paused briefly at the American Fish Company and opened fire, fatally wounding three patrons, and injuring at least eight others. The boat then fled the area, towards the Intracoastal Waterway in the direction of Oak Island.

Shortly after 10:00 PM, the U.S. Coast Guard observed a single individual matching the description of the shooter, loading their boat at the public boat ramp at NE 55th Street in Oak Island. The Coast Guard crew detained this suspect, who is now being held by the Oak Island Police Department, and will be turned over to the Southport Police Department for questioning, with assistance from the State Bureau of Investigation.

Did he really think he was going to get away with this after all those witnesses were looking at his boat for awhile?

 

[Knox]

The victims who lost their lives and were injured deserve our compassion absolutely. But there is also room for compassion in what some Veterans in this country suffer as well.

It's tough in this moment to give that to Edge, IMO.

I thought I saw something that said he had been shot in the head in Iraq. Is that true?

 

[justtrish]

The victims who lost their lives and were injured deserve our compassion absolutely. But there is also room for compassion in what some Veterans in this country suffer as well.

It's tough in this moment to give that to Edge, IMO.

I thought I saw something that said he had been shot in the head in Iraq. Is that true?

Yes!

Only a year earlier, the newspaper wrote, doctors had told him he would never walk. He carried a bullet in his brain, walked with a cane and had a skull that was half plastic. The following years are described as slow recovery.

“The problem with surviving war when you’re not supposed to is that everything that means anything changes,” he wrote later. “But only for you. The fact that you’re unique now is nothing society can relate to. I’m psychologically, biologically and spiritually different than anyone I know because of what happened to me. People doubt me every way possible, including myself on occasion, knowing that I should be dead. However, I am the same person I used to be, deep down.”

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article312297067.html

 

[angelainwi]

I thought I saw something that said he had been shot in the head in Iraq. Is that true?

That does appear to be true.

 

[Knox]

Yes!

Only a year earlier, the newspaper wrote, doctors had told him he would never walk. He carried a bullet in his brain, walked with a cane and had a skull that was half plastic. The following years are described as slow recovery.

“The problem with surviving war when you’re not supposed to is that everything that means anything changes,” he wrote later. “But only for you. The fact that you’re unique now is nothing society can relate to. I’m psychologically, biologically and spiritually different than anyone I know because of what happened to me. People doubt me every way possible, including myself on occasion, knowing that I should be dead. However, I am the same person I used to be, deep down.”

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article312297067.html

Wow, that was tough to read.

 

[katydid23]

Hmmm...

"Not in touch with reality"
but merrily wandering around not bothered by anyone and carrying a weapon.
(In this case - sailing and shooting random unfortunate folks)

JMO

He took a shot to the head during wartime. So he is not really himself these days. He should not have had a weapon and I am not sure how he obtained them. We have to get that under control.

But I am not going to question his mental health issues because it is obvious that he had some very traumatic brain injuries plus traumatic experiences. imo

 

[vls12345]

Vigil held for victims of Southport shooting - WWAYTV3

A vigil for those impacted by Saturday night's mass shooting was held on Sunday evening at the Southport Baptist Church.

www.wwaytv3.com