New Hampshire country club shooting survivor describes chaos: “All I saw was his gun.”
By Brandon Truitt, Matt Schooley
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BOSTON (WBZ) — A Massachusetts woman shot during a deadly New Hampshire country club shooting last month said she’s grateful to be alive, and praised her husband’s heroic actions diving to protect her from bullets that flew while the couple celebrated their anniversary.
Doug and Brianna Surette were dining inside Prime steakhouse at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua on September 20 when gunshots rang out just feet away. The couple had been married in 2020 at Sky Meadow.
The Surettes spoke to WBZ-TV on Thursday. Brianna said that more than a month after the shooting, she is just starting to feel more normal.
“I really thought this was going to ruin my whole life,” Brianna said.
Couple survives Sky Meadow shooting The Surettes were sitting at a table against the wall when the shooting started. Brianna said the peaceful scene turned “absolutely chaotic.”
“All I saw was his gun,” Brianna Surette said.
“We heard that first clap, and I don’t think anybody realized it was a gunshot at first,” Doug added. “He was standing there with the gun pointed in our direction.”
Police said former Sky Meadow employee Hunter Nadeau was the gunman. He is being held without bail following the shooting.
Brianna Surette said her husband yelled for her to get down, but she instinctively reached across the table for him instead.
“He just flew over the table and got me to the ground. I just laid there and wished that it would stop,” she said.
“Just so happy to be able to live” One of the bullets hit Brianna in the leg, but she didn’t notice for several minutes.
“That whole night I was just so grateful to be alive, and we are OK. I couldn’t even focus on the pain because I was just so happy to be able to live,” she said.
Doug, a firefighter in Lynn, said someone who saw the crime scene told him “you guys must have had a guardian angel” because the area where they were sitting was riddled with bullet holes. He said his first emotion was anger.
“I can’t believe this is happening. You’re just angry,” Doug said. “That’s the emotion that stuck with me through all of it. Anger in the moment and anger that he tried to take us away from our kids. He did take another gentleman away from his family. And we’ll never find out a reason why. Trying to come to terms with that is tough.”
Robert DeCesare, who was also dining with his family inside the Prime restaurant, was killed. His family said DeCesare was shielding his loved ones from bullets when he was shot and killed. Steve Burtman was working at the country club at the time of the shooting. He was shot in the face and has undergone multiple surgeries.
According to an update Wednesday on an online fundraising page, Burtman just recently was discharged from the hospital. Burtman’s family said his jaw will remain wired shut for several months and he likely faces an additional surgery.
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