Nigel Edge: What we know about the Southport mass shooting suspect

SOUTHPORT, N.C. (WTVD) -- The man accused of opening fire from a boat in Southport this weekend, killing three people and wounding eight others, made a first court appearance on Monday afternoon.

Here's what we know about 40-year-old Nigel Max Edge.

• Edge, who was apprehended by the Coast Guard near his Oak Island home, appeared in Brunswick County court on Monday. The judge ordered him to be held without bond. He was appointed an attorney from the capital defenders office.

• Edge was born Sean William Debevoise. He later legally changed his name in 2023. In his name change petition to the court, he wrote: "There have been a lot of events in my life that I don't understand. Therefore, I do not trust my family, and I would feel more comfortable starting my life in a new path with a new name."

• Edge is a decorated Marine veteran whose last duty assignment was at Camp Lejeune in the Wounded Warrior Battalion East, II Marine Expeditionary Force. He served in the military from Sept. 23, 2003, to June 30, 2009, reaching the rank of sergeant in 2007. He was also an assaultman, and reconnaissance man. He was deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom from January 2005-August 2005, and again from March 2006-May 2006. He was shot in the head while serving in Iraq.

• As Debevoise, he was awarded a Purple Heart, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Combat Action Ribbon (Iraq), Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and National Defense Service Medal.

• In recent years, he had aired a slew of conspiracy theory grievances in a series of lawsuits and had apparently been suffering from PTSD. He filed for divorce in 2009. Edge filed lawsuits against a variety of individuals and institutions. He twice sued the Southport Police Department. He also sued doctors and a health care center, accusing them of falsifying lab tests to create "emotional distress" in him and drive him to suicide.

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• He also claimed in court documents that he was the victim of "civil conspiracy his entire life, and that he's been human trafficked by (the) LGBQT (sic) community as a weapon of mass destruction."

• Notably, he once escorted American Idol singer Kellie Pickler to the 2012 Country Music Awards while dressed in his formal Marine uniform.

Edge is due back in court on Oct. 13.

ABC News contributed.