A 23-year-old man is charged with opening fire in a New Hampshire country club Saturday evening, killing one person and wounding two others, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella and Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke said in a statement.
Hunter Nadeau is accused of killing Robert DeCesare, 59, with a handgun at the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, the statement said. There is no known connection between the two men, the statement said.
Evie O’Rourke of Salem, New Hampshire, who was at the scene, told The Associated Press she was still trying to find her son, Robert DeCesare of Nashua, in the aftermath of the shooting.
“We don’t know where he is. He went down. My daughter-in-law and granddaughter escaped … They saw my son go down and they saw blood, and we can’t find him,” she said.
She later learned her son had died.
Two other adults, who have not been identified, were wounded in the shooting. Their conditions were not immediately available.
Police went to the country club after receiving several 911 calls reporting multiple gunshots.
Nadeau was detained at the scene by Nashua Police. Investigators were still working to determine a motive, New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley said.
Initial reports indicating that there were two shooters were erroneous.
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 “the children are safe” and “free Palestine” and appeared to be targeting someone.
[We were] “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.”
Some people dropped to the ground and attempted to get away from the scene. There was a lot of panic, he said.
“We were trying to keep family members safe,” he said. “Keep everybody down and try to find safe spots.”
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.
As police were investigating the shooting, 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.”
Nadeau faces one count of second-degree murder and likely will face additional charges for the additional shooting victims, according to the statement from Formella and Rourke.
He is expected to be arraigned at the Ninth Circuit Court in Nashua on Monday.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this story.
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