The wife and mother of a man who was killed during a shooting at a New Hampshire country club carried out over the weekend by a former facility employee say the victim sacrificed his life to protect his family.
Robert Steven DeCesare, 59, was fatally shot on Saturday night at the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, about 45 miles (72km) from Boston, where relatives say he had been dining with his wife and family to plan his daughter’s upcoming wedding.
“My husband got caught in the fire trying to protect us,” his widow, Charlene DeCesare, said in a statement to the Associated Press.
“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.”
She added: “In our hearts, he’s a hero.”
Charlene said that she was “unbelievably traumatized” by her husband’s killing – and explained that she and her daughter were closest to the shooter when he entered the room. She added that the shooter appeared to be targeting an employee of the country club restaurant.
Charlene, who told WMUR local news that she and DeCesare had been married for 27 years, said her husband loved golf, poker and pickleball. DeCesare had earned his family’s and community’s love and affection, Charlene said.
She also urged the public to “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”.
Authorities have identified the suspect as 23-year-old Hunter Nadeau, who had formerly worked at the country club. Nadeau was arrested on a count of second-degree murder, with additional charges expected in connection with two other people wounded in the attack.
Officials have said that there is no known connection between Nadeau and DeCesare.
Witnesses reported hearing the suspect shout “free Palestine” during the attack. But New Hampshire’s attorney general, John Formella, said on Sunday that the shooter made a “number of statements during the event”, and that authorities “don’t have any evidence at this time that would indicate that Mr Nadeau was motivated by hate-based motivation”.
“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,” Formella said.
Nadeau was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.
DeCesare’s mother, Evie O’Rourke, told WCVB that her son put himself between the gunman and his family.
“He did what I’m sure was his instinct to do,” O’Rourke said. “Like I said, he was facing the shooter, not trying to get away, and that’s what his wife said.
“I’m still in shock seeing the shooting, but I know he did this: his thought was to take care of his family.”
O’Rourke also told NBC Boston that she had been watching TV on Saturday night when she first heard about the shooting. She said that she knew someone had died – but she didn’t immediately know it was her son.
After several hours, O’Rourke said that she learned that her son had been killed in the attack.
“He turned around and stood up and took a bullet for his family,” she said. “And I’m very proud of him.”
She described her son as a “great guy”, “an awesome husband, a hard worker, a great son” – adding that “he’s the one that we went to and we can’t do that anymore”.
The owner of the Sky Meadow Country Club, Rob Parsons, described DeCesare in a statement on Sunday as a “hero” and expressed gratitude “for the courageous efforts of patrons and employees who acted selflessly to prevent further tragedy”.
Witnesses said the attack ended when someone struck the shooter with a chair.
“This was the heinous act of a coward who will be held to account for what he did,” Parsons wrote.
Parsons added that the two people who were shot and wounded included one guest as well as one employee, who were each recovering.
Authorities also reported that four other individuals reported non-gunshot injuries.
