One Dead, Two Injured in Nashua Country Club Shooting; Suspect Arrested

A gunman opened fire at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Saturday during a wedding, killing one person and wounding two others, authorities said.

The deceased was identified as 59-year-old Robert Steven DeCesare, of Salem, New Hampshire, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella and Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke. The suspect, Hunter Nadeau, 23, was arrested and charged with one count of second-degree murder for knowingly shooting DeCesare, with additional charges likely for the other shooting victims, authorities said. Nadeau is expected to be arraigned Monday in the Ninth Circuit Court in Nashua. Investigators had initially said there were two shooters but later corrected that there was only one. There is no active threat to the public at this time. Investigators are still working to determine a motive.

Witness Tom Bartelson, who was at Pepperell, Massachusetts, described a chaotic scene near his nephew’s wedding. He said he heard the gunman say, "the children are safe" and "free Palestine" and appeared to be targeting someone. "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."

The mother of DeCesare, Evie O’Rourke of Salem, New Hampshire, 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," she 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. 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.