Robert Steven DeCesare, 59, stood between his family and gunman Hunter Nadeau and was killed as he as having dinner at the wedding.
A New Hampshire wedding turned into a nightmare Saturday evening after a crazed gunman opened fire when the bride and the groom were about to dance. 59-year-old Robert Steven DeCesare, a guest at the wedding at Sky Meadow Country Club, was killed in front of his family. Police have charged Hunter Nadeau, 23, with murder. Nadeau apparently did not know DeCesare and did not target him — but fired at the wedding randomly as he shouted ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘the children are safe’. Police have not yet pinpointed any motive. Robert DeCesare’s mother was also at the wedding. She said after the firing began, frantic scenes unfolded and nobody knew where her son was. “We don’t know where he is. He went down. My daughter-in-law and granddaughter escaped … They saw my son go down and they saw blood, and we can’t find him,” Evie O’Rourke said about her son. Some eyewitnesses claimed that the masked shooter who definitely looked like he did not come to attend the wedding, was very certain about his target and he went after DeCesare. The mother said DeCesare was having dinner with his family when the shooter stormed in and shot the head waiter. DeCesare put himself between the bullets and his family. “He did what I’m sure was his instinct to do. Like I said, he was facing the shooter, not trying to get away, and that’s what his wife said,” O’Rourke 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 says her son was preparing for his daughter to be married in six weeks.Nashua’s mayor Jim Donchess reacted to the shooting and commended the local police for capturing the alleged gunman. “Our hearts go out to the families of those killed or injured. Thank you the Nashua PD for quick work in catching the ‘person of interest,’ This truly can happen anywhere,” Donchess wrote on Facebook.
