Patrons at New Hampshire restaurant shooting prevented worse tragedy with selfless acts, AG says

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NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — Patrons at a restaurant acted quickly and selflessly to stop a gunman who opened fire while a wedding was taking place at a New Hampshire country club, averting a worse tragedy, authorities said Sunday.

One person was killed and two others were wounded by gunfire Saturday night before a suspect was taken into custody in a nearby neighborhood not long after the shooting, authorities said.

The gunfire killed Robert Steven DeCesare, 59, at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, said New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella and Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke. They said the suspect was Hunter Nadeau, 23, of Nashua, and that he had been arrested and charged with one count of second-degree murder for knowingly shooting DeCesare.

Nadeau was a former employee of the club, Formella said, adding that Nadeau made a number of statements during the shooting and appeared to be attempting to cause chaos in the moment as opposed to showing a hate-based motivation. Witnesses reported that Nadeau said “Free Palestine” during the confusion.

Some witnesses said someone struck Nadeau with a chair in an attempt to subdue him. Formella cited “selfless acts of courage by the patrons in the restaurant who put aside care for their own safety and worked to intervene and stop the shooter.”

The shooting happened adjacent to a wedding that was taking place at the club. Wedding DJ Michael Homewood credited the chair strike with preventing an even worse shooting.

“He hit him over the head with a chair, and he probably saved a bunch of lives just doing that,” Homewood told WCVB-TV.

Investigators were working to determine a motive, Formella said. Police did not immediately respond to a question about whether Nadeau is represented by an attorney, and attempts to reach family members of Nadeau were not immediately successful. Authorities said there is no known connection between Nadeau and DeCesare.

Authorities had initially thought there could be two shooters but later said there was only one.

“Additional charges likely will be brought, including for the additional shooting victims,” Formella and Rourke said in a statement. They said they expect Nadeau to be arraigned at the Ninth Circuit Court in Nashua on Monday.

One of the surviving gunshot victims was an employee and the other was a patron, Formella said. The employee is hospitalized in critical but stable condition while the other victim's status is unknown, Formella said. He said at least four other people at the scene suffered non-gunshot wounds that were not expected to be life threatening.

In addition to the three gunshot victims, others suffered injuries including lacerations, a broken hand and blunt force trauma, Nashua Fire Rescue said Sunday. The agency said it assisted about 100 people from the scene to a nearby firehouse, mostly on foot.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte said in a statement Sunday that the attorney general's office will assist Nashua police with the investigation and that she and her husband were "praying for the victims and their families."

Nashua is about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northwest of Boston, just across the Massachusetts border.

Charlene DeCesare, the widow of Robert DeCesare, said in an email that she was “unbelievably traumatized” and was focusing on caring for the couple's children in the aftermath of the shootings.

“Our lives are forever changed in one moment that would be senseless except for the belief that Rob was trying to protect me and my daughter, and maybe others there too. In our hearts, he’s a hero,” she said.

Charlene DeCesare said her husband loved golf, poker and pickleball and was loved by his family and community. She also asked that the public “beware the speculation and utter nonsense that is being posted about what happened and why” and said it was “only making it harder for everyone involved, including the police who are trying to do their job.”

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,” said Evie O’Rourke of Salem, New Hampshire.

Sophie Flabouris told WCVB-TV that someone hit the suspect over the head with a chair to subdue him. Flabouris said the suspect then fled the scene.

“We had just gathered around the dance floor. We were about to do a Greek smashing of the plates and throwing the dollar bills. The bride had just come up to me and gave me the plates to say, ‘All right, you give this to my husband.’ And all of a sudden we heard ‘pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.’ Heard five shots,” Flabouris said. “All of a sudden heard ‘Gun!’ Chaos, screaming, and then running.”

Emily Ernst 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.”

Tom Bartelson of Pepperell, Massachusetts, described a chaotic scene that unfolded near his nephew’s wedding.

“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.”

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of DJ’s last name to Homewood, not Holmwood.

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Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine.