NASHUA, N.H. — A former employee shouted “free Palestine” before killing a guest at a Nashua, New Hampshire country club on Saturday, according to a witness.
However, investigators say that they do not believe that politics played a part in the 23-year-old shooter’s decision to open fire in the vicinity of restaurant patrons and wedding attendees at the Sky Meadow Country Club.
Hunter Nadeau, a Nashua resident, is in police custody and facing a second degree murder charge after shooting and killing 59-year-old Robert Steven DeCesare.
Nadeau is likely to face further charges for shooting two others and causing a panic that led four more patrons to injury, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said at a press conference Sunday.
“The investigation is in the early stages,” Formella said. “At this point, we don’t have any evidence to indicate that this was a hate-based act.”
Nadeau is expected to be in Nashua District Court at 1 p.m. on Monday for an arraignment.
Formella said Nadeau is a former employee of the country club and that he hasn’t worked there for more than a year. At this stage of the investigation it is unclear what motivated the shooting, but early indicators do not demonstrate politics were necessarily involved, the AG said.
“We’re still gathering evidence and information related to his motive. We don’t think the statements he made lead us to any particular motive,” Formella said.
The alleged shooter shouted several other things unrelated to Palestine during the tragic and chaotic event, according to the AG, leading investigators to believe that his shouted statements were meant to cause confusion and panic, not to represent a particular political viewpoint.
“I would say that at this point the evidence leads us to believe that it is more likely that Mr. Nadeau was simply trying to make a number of statements to create chaos in the moment,” he said.
According to early reporting, multiple shots rang out as wedding attendees gathered to watch the bride and groom dance.
Tom Bartelson of Pepperell, the groom’s uncle, said that he heard the shooter proclaim that the “children are safe” and then shout “free Palestine” before opening fire.
“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,” Bartelson said. “We were trying to keep family members safe. Keep everybody down and try to find safe spots.”
Witnesses say the gunman was dressed all in black and wearing a mask. Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke said that his first target seemed to be the wedding host. DeCesare was not a wedding guest, Formella said, but was at the country club’s restaurant having dinner with his family when he was killed. Authorities said there is no known connection between Nadeau and DeCesare.
In addition to DeCesare and the wedding host, a second patron was also shot. Rourke said that the wedding host is in critical condition and was airlifted to Mass General Hospital. Four other country club patrons were injured while fleeing the scene of the shooting, the AG said.
Formella said that guests at the country club “put aside” their own safety to intervene to stop the shooting “and keep this a much more contained event then it may have otherwise been” but would not speak to early reporting that the gunman was disarmed by a country club guest.
Rourke said that video surveillance was able to eventually confirm that there was just one shooter, but that officers were at first told there were multiple armed men at the country club. He said that despite the chaos at the scene, officers were able to apprehend the suspect within 30 minutes of the first reports coming in.
The chief said the alleged shooter was found in a “nearby neighborhood” but he would not say if the weapon used in the shooting was found along with the suspect.
Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess said that the city and state will get to the bottom of what happened, but he said that the shooting just goes to show how this kind of violence can visit any community.
“I think the message for every community out there is that no matter how unlikely it seems, it can happen where you live,” Donchess said.
“This truly can happen anywhere,” he reiterated in a later social media post.
New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte said in a statement that she and her husband are “praying for the victims and their families of the tragic shooting last night at Sky Meadow Country Club.”
“I want to thank Chief Rourke, the Nashua Police Department, and all of the first responders who reacted quickly to secure the scene and detain the suspect. The Attorney General’s office will continue to assist the Nashua Police Department with this ongoing investigation,” the governor said.
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.”
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
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