Marine Arrested Over Texas Student's Death

A US Marine stationed in Arizona has been arrested over the fatal shooting of a North Texas college student on New Year's Day, authorities have said.

In a statement, the US Marine Corps said Corporal Eric Johnson, 20, was taken into custody at the north gate of the Marine Corps air station in Yuma.

Police in Denton, Texas, said he had been arrested on a murder warrant over the death of Sara Mutschlechner, 20.

The student was shot in the head after an exchange of words between people in the vehicle she was driving and a group of five or six men in an SUV, according to police.

Officer Shane Kizer, of Denton police, said: "Apparently it was an amicable conversation to begin with that quickly went downhill and some derogatory statements were made toward the female occupants of that vehicle."

Ms Mutschlechner was the designated driver after going to a New Year's Eve party which at least two people in the SUV had also attended, according to police.

The arrest warrant for Johnson said two male occupants of the student's vehicle told police that people in the SUV said they wanted to have sex with two women in the car.

When one of the men responded he did not appreciate the comment, the driver - identified as Johnson - displayed a handgun and indicated he would shoot, according to the affidavit.

Shots were fired as the vehicles crossed through an intersection.

After Ms Mutschlechner was hit by a bullet, her car struck another vehicle and crashed into an electrical pole.

Officer Kizer said Johnson "was seen with a handgun in the vehicle right before the shots were fired".

The Marine Corps said Johnson is assigned to the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1.

Captain Justin Smith, a spokesman for the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command in California, said Johnson joined the Marines in August 2013 as an administrative specialist. He has never been deployed.