A gunman opened fire on a crowded riverside bar in North Carolina on Saturday night after pulling up to its dock on a boat, killing three people and wounding at least eight others before speeding away on the water, city officials said.
The attack occurred around 9:30 p.m. at the American Fish Company bar in Southport, N.C., said ChyAnn Ketchum, a spokeswoman for the city. She said the gunman fired on a crowd after pulling up to the dock, then escaped on the boat.
Just after 10 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard detained a person matching a description of the shooter who was bringing a boat out of the water to secure it to a trailer at a public ramp in Oak Island, N.C., a town about 12 miles west of where the shooting occurred, city officials said in a statement early Sunday.
City officials said the person was being held by the Oak Island Police Department and would be transferred to the Southport Police Department for questioning. They added that there was no “known further credible threat to the public.”
The authorities provided no other information about the victims of the attack or the gunman’s possible motive. The American Fish Company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Southport is a city of about 4,100 in southeastern North Carolina that sits about 60 miles by road east of Myrtle Beach, S.C. The city’s waterfront is near the southern tip of an estuary that opens onto the Atlantic Ocean.
American Fish Company, a former fish shack and refueling stop for boats, is a bar built on an open-air riverfront deck. Its website advertises live music, waterfront sunsets and craft cocktails.
A performer known as Bacon Grease was scheduled to perform at the bar on Saturday.
Mark Walker is an investigative reporter for The Times focused on transportation. He is based in Washington.
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