The madman who “targeted” a crowded dockside restaurant in a “highly premeditated” mass shooting in North Carolina is a Purple Heart recipient and heavily decorated Marine who served in Iraq before changing his name and filing a slew of conspiracy-laden lawsuits, according to authorities and records.

Nigel Edge — who​ changed his name from Sean DeBevoise in 2023 — was arrested Saturday night ​for launching his deadly assault on the American Fish Company restaurant in Southport Yacht Basin, about 30 miles south of Wilmington, when he suddenly sprayed bullets into the crowd of unsuspecting diners, officials said.

Three people were killed and eight were injured, authorities said.

One of the wounded​ victims is still “clinging to life,” officials told reporters Sunday, ​adding that many who were at the restaurant last night were from out of state.

Edge, 39, was armed with a short-barreled AR rifle, equipped with a suppressor, with a folding stock and scope, court documents charge.

​The suspect, described as a “lone wolf’’ by authorities, faces three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted first-degree murder, and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

The motive has yet to be determined, police said.

But records show Edge has been behind several bizarre lawsuits filed in North Carolina this year — including one accusing a Southport church of trying to kill him.

The suit, filed in May, claimed the Generations Church was behind a “civil conspiracy” masterminded by the LGBTQ community and white supremacist pedophiles to kill Edge because he’s “a straight man.”

In January, Edge filed a similar suit against the Brunswick Medical Center, accusing it of being part of a conspiracy launched by “LGBTQ White Supremacists” who were allegedly out to get him because he survived their attack in Iraq.

Both lawsuits were dismissed with prejudice, according to court records.

The wild claims in the lawsuits echo those detailed in a book written by ​Edge when he went by Sean DeBevoise, “Headshot: Betrayal of a Nation,” where he claims that he was shot four times, including in the head, by friendly fire over an international conspiracy.

He claims he served in the Marine Corps and was deployed to Haiti and then served two tours in Iraq, when he found himself in the middle of the conspiracy ring.

The ​Marine said he was wounded in two separate IED attacks during a 2006 tour in Iraq, along with a bullet wound that left shrapnel lodged in his head.

A US military spokesperson confirmed that Edge served in the Marines from 2003 to 2009 and deployed to Iraq in 2005 and again in 2006.

He received a number of prestigious awards during his service, including a Purple Heart. He was also awarded the Marine Corps Good Conduct medal, Combat Action ribbon, Sea Service Deployment ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal with two Bronze Stars, Humanitarian Service medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service medal, and National Defense Service medal.

North Carolina authorities also identified Edge as a combat veteran allegedly suffering from PTSD.

He was previously seen on the red carpet accompanying “American Idol” star Kellie Pickler to the Country Music Awards in 2012.

Following the mass shooting, police said the gunman quickly took off on the Intracoastal Waterway and was spotted around 10 p.m. trying to load a vessel along the marina on Oak Island.

He was arrested by the US Coast Guard​.

Edge was being held at the Brunswick County Detention Center without bond, according to court records.

He ​is due to appear in court on Monday for an initial hearing.

Southport Police Chief Todd Coring said the investigation ​is ongoing as he asked for people to keep the victims in their prayers.

“We’re a small community, one of the communities where everybody knows everybody,” the chief told reporters. “It’s just a very tragic night.”

Coring and local officials said Edge has no significant criminal history, but his civil lawsuits and “minor brushes with the law” made him known to officials in Oak Island, where the suspect lived.