DENTON, TX – A Marine stationed in Arizona was arrested in connection to the fatal shooting of S. Mutschlechner, 20, a student who was attending the University of North Texas.
After obtaining an arrest warrant in connection to the Dec. 31 shooting in Denton, Texas, U.S. Marshals arrested Cpl. E. Johnson, who was with the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1 at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona, where he’s based.
In a Tuesday press conference, Denton police said that Johnson is being held in Arizona on a murder warrant. Thus far, there has been no other details about the arrest.
According to witnesses, Mutschlechner and three of her passengers were in a sedan on New Year’s Day when a gray Honda Pilot SUV, driven by Johnson, drove up next to them. Words were exchanged between the occupants of both vehicles.
At first, the exchange was friendly, but then it turned argumentative and derogatory comments were made towards the women in Mutschlechner’s vehicle. When a male in the back of her vehicle responded, Johnson allegedly threatened to shoot him.
The witnesses said that they saw Johnson with a semiautomatic handgun before shots were fired.
Mutschlechner, who was driving, was shot in the head, causing her to lose control of the vehicle. She hit another car before crashing into a utility pole.
She was transported to Denton Regional Medical Center and removed from life support later that day.
According to Denton police investigators, the department has identified all of the occupants in Johnson’s vehicle at the time of the shooting and feel confident that Johnson was the sole shooter in the murder of Mutschlechner.
On Tuesday, Johnson was in custody in Yuma, Arizona. Denton police investigators travelled to Yuma, but are still following up on leads in the investigation.
Johnson, a 20-year-old U.S. Marine corporal has been charged with murder, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.
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