A man shot one person to death and wounded two others at a New Hampshire country club as a wedding took place there on Saturday, according to authorities.
A witness to the attack – named as Tom Bartelson of Pepperell, Massachusetts – said his nephew was getting married at the time of the shooting, and he recounted hearing the shooter yell “the children are safe” and “free Palestine” while evidently targeting someone.
Investigators, meanwhile, added that they were still working to determine a motive in the shooting at the Sky Meadow country club in Nashua. Hunter Nadeau, 23, was arrested as the suspect in the shooting, which killed 59-year-old Robert Steven DeCesare, according to New Hampshire attorney general John Formella and Nashua police chief Kevin Rourke.
There was no known connection between Nadeau and DeCesare, investigators added. Nadeau faces a count of second-degree murder in the case.
According to Bartelson, the bride and groom were preparing to dance when “all chaos went off”.
“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 remarked.
He said 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.”
A statement from Formella and Rourke said “additional charges will likely be brought, including for the additional shooting victims”. Nadeau was tentatively scheduled to be arraigned in state court in Nashua on Monday.
Authorities had initially thought there could be two shooters but later said there was only one.
Information on the two wounded victims’ conditions was not immediately available.
The mother of DeCesare had earlier described not being able to find her son after he was shot.
“He went down. My daughter-in-law and granddaughter escaped,” the mother, Evie O’Rourke of Salem, New Hampshire, said. “They saw my son go down and they saw blood.”
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 local news outlet WMUR showed multiple emergency responders heading to the scene. Later, Nashua’s 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.”
Maggie Goodlander, a New Hampshire Democratic US representative, said in a statement that she was “closely monitoring the tragic reports” of the country club shooting and that her heart was with the victims, their families and the community.
Nashua is about 45 miles (70km) north-west of Boston, just across the Massachusetts border.
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