The former Marine sniper accused of a mass shooting and the warning signs that came before – abcnews.go.com

Report on Public Safety Failures and Sustainable Development Goals: The Case of Nigel Max Edge

Executive Summary

This report analyzes the case of Nigel Max Edge, a former Marine charged with a mass shooting in Southport, North Carolina, on September 27. The incident, which resulted in three fatalities and five injuries, highlights significant gaps in public health and justice systems. This analysis frames these systemic failures within the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), primarily focusing on SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

Case Background and Chronology

1. Subject Profile: Nigel Max Edge (formerly Sean William DeBevoise), age 41, is a medically retired Marine Corps veteran who served as an elite recon sniper and sustained severe injuries in Iraq, including a traumatic brain injury.
2. Pre-Incident Warning Signs: In the years and months preceding the attack, Edge exhibited increasingly erratic and paranoid behavior.
   • He became estranged from family and friends, accusing them of elaborate conspiracies.
   • He filed numerous lawsuits against family, friends, doctors, and government agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
   • In May, four months before the shooting, a former friend, Marc Simmons, filed for a protective order, stating in a handwritten request that Edge was “mentally unstable” and “always has a pistol on him.”
3. The Incident: On September 27, Edge allegedly opened fire with an AR-style rifle on a crowded bar from a motorboat, killing three people and wounding five. Authorities later recovered multiple firearms from his possession.

Analysis in Relation to Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

The case represents a profound failure to meet targets associated with SDG 3, which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all.

• Target 3.4: Promote mental health and well-being. The subject’s documented history of PTSD, delusions, and severe mental health decline following his military service was not met with effective, sustained intervention. Despite clear pleas for help from family members in legal documents and visible signs of distress, the healthcare system, including the VA, failed to provide the necessary care to prevent a crisis. This highlights a critical gap in mental healthcare access and efficacy for veterans.
• Target 3.D: Strengthen capacity for early warning and risk reduction. The numerous warning signs—including a formal protective order request, erratic legal filings, and testimony from estranged family—constituted a clear early warning. The inability of the existing health and social systems to act on these warnings and mitigate the risk demonstrates a systemic failure in managing public health threats stemming from severe mental illness.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

The events leading to the shooting underscore significant weaknesses in the institutions responsible for maintaining peace and justice, directly challenging the objectives of SDG 16.

• Target 16.1: Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates. The mass shooting is a direct manifestation of the failure to achieve this target. It illustrates how gaps in mental healthcare and gun control legislation can converge to produce lethal violence, undermining public safety and community peace.
• Target 16.3: Promote the rule of law and ensure equal access to justice. The case points to institutional and legislative shortcomings. The absence of a “red flag law” in North Carolina is a specific policy gap that could have provided a legal mechanism for temporarily removing firearms from an individual deemed a threat to himself or others. Furthermore, the complexity and high threshold for involuntary commitment procedures meant that even those aware of the danger felt powerless to act, indicating a justice system that is not fully equipped to prevent such tragedies.
• Target 16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions. The inability of multiple institutions—the courts, law enforcement, and the VA—to coordinate an effective intervention for Edge demonstrates a lack of institutional accountability and effectiveness. The subject “fell through the cracks” of systems that should have been positioned to prevent this outcome, revealing a need for stronger, more integrated institutional frameworks for public safety and health.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

  The article extensively discusses the severe mental health challenges faced by the perpetrator, Nigel Max Edge, a former Marine. His condition, described as “mentally unstable” and suffering from “delusions” and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is a central theme. The narrative highlights the failure of the healthcare system, specifically the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the community to provide him with the necessary mental health care. His mother’s plea, “The VA needs to take care of him!!!”, underscores the gap in mental health services, directly connecting the story to the goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all.

• SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

  This goal is addressed through the article’s focus on violence, public safety, and the effectiveness of legal and justice institutions. The mass shooting, which resulted in three deaths and five injuries, is a direct example of the failure to maintain peace and security. Furthermore, the article examines the legal system’s shortcomings in preventing such violence. It discusses the request for a protective order against Edge, the call for “red flag laws” to confiscate firearms from individuals deemed a threat, and the complexities of involuntary commitment procedures. These elements point to weaknesses in the institutions designed to protect citizens and prevent violence, which is a core concern of SDG 16.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Under SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

  • Target 3.4: By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being.
    
    Explanation: The article serves as a case study of the failure to promote mental health and well-being. Nigel Edge’s untreated PTSD and delusions, stemming from his “war injuries,” led to a violent outcome. The story details his estrangement from family and friends and their inability to secure him the mental health care he needed, highlighting a systemic failure in mental health prevention and treatment. The tragic events are a direct consequence of this failure.

• Under SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

  • Target 16.1: Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere.
    
    Explanation: The central event of the article is a mass shooting where the perpetrator “opened fire with an AR-style rifle, killing three and wounding five.” This act of lethal violence directly relates to the goal of reducing violence and death rates. The entire narrative is built around this failure to ensure public safety.
  • Target 16.4: By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime.
    
    Explanation: While not about organized crime, this target’s focus on controlling arms flows is relevant. The article mentions that police “recovered two handguns and a short-barreled rifle from Edge’s car and boat” and “two more rifles and pistols, including one with a silencer” from his home. The call by Governor Josh Stein for “red flag laws” is a direct policy proposal aimed at controlling the flow and possession of arms by individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others, which aligns with the spirit of this target to prevent violence through arms control.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicators for SDG 3, Target 3.4

  • Implied Indicator: The article provides a qualitative account of the lack of access to and failure of mental health services for a veteran with severe PTSD. The narrative of Edge “fall[ing] through the cracks” of the system implies a failure in the healthcare response, which is what indicators measuring the effectiveness of mental health treatment aim to capture. His mother’s statement that “The VA needs to take care of him!!!” points directly to a perceived failure in a key institution responsible for veteran mental health.

• Indicators for SDG 16, Target 16.1

  • Indicator 16.1.1: Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population.
    
    Explanation: The article provides precise data for this indicator by stating that the shooting was responsible for “killing three.” This is a direct measure of intentional homicide. It also mentions the number of non-fatal victims (“wounding five”), which relates to the broader goal of reducing all forms of violence.

• Indicators for SDG 16, Target 16.4

  • Implied Indicator (related to Indicator 16.4.2): Proportion of seized, found or surrendered arms.
    
    Explanation: The article explicitly lists the firearms seized from the perpetrator: “two handguns and a short-barreled rifle from Edge’s car and boat. At his home, they found two more rifles and pistols, including one with a silencer.” This inventory of seized weapons serves as a direct data point related to the problem of arms proliferation and the efforts by law enforcement to control them.

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: abcnews.go.com