(CNN) A U.S. Marine was arrested Tuesday at his base in an Arizona city near the Mexican border, some 1,100 miles from where he allegedly shot and killed a 20-year-old college student who'd just rung in the new year. 
 
 Eric Jamal Johnson was taken into custody in Yuma "for killing Sara Mutschlechner," Denton, Texas, police spokesman Shane Kizer told CNN. 
 
 The U.S. Marine Corps said in a news release that Johnson was arrested in connection with the Denton shooting around 6:30 a.m. (8:30 a.m. ET) Tuesday at the Marine air station in Yuma where he's based. 
 
 Mutschlechner was driving through the Dallas suburb with three passengers around 2 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) Friday when a gray Honda Pilot with five to six males inside pulled up next to them, Kizer said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference. 
 
 "It was an amicable conversation to begin with, but quickly went downhill and some derogatory statements were made toward the female occupants of that vehicle," the Denton Police spokesman told reporters. 
 
 Kizer described those "very derogatory" remarks as being of a "sexual nature," adding that a male inside Mutschlechner's vehicle responded by calling them out as offensive. 
 
 "Some comments were made back towards him, even a couple of threats were thrown," the police spokesman said. "About that time, they were driving through the intersection ... when several shots were fired." 
 
 Victim 'a beautiful person inside and out' 
 
 One of those shots struck Mutschlechner in the head, according to Denton Police. 
 
 She quickly lost control of her car, which first hit another vehicle leaving a nearby parking lot before veering into an electrical pole. 
 
 The Honda Pilot, meanwhile, fled. 
 
 Mutschlechner, a University of North Texas student and member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, died after being transported to an area hospital. She was a designated driver that night and had not been drinking, witnesses said. 
 
 "Sara was a beautiful person inside and out, and this world is less bright without her," her sorority said on Facebook. "She will be so terribly missed in our chapter, on UNT campus, and in this world." 
 
 Police: Johnson seen with handgun in vehicle 
 
 Authorities managed to track down Johnson after talking to survivors in Mutschlechner's vehicle, culling through social media and talking to people at the New Year's Eve party that she and three others in her vehicle had just left 
 
 Kizer said that at least two of the occupants in Johnson's SUV attended the same party, though he did not know any interaction between the two groups then. Nor was it known if Mutschlechner was targeted, or if she even knew Johnson or anyone else inside the other vehicle. 
 
 While he didn't outright call Johnson the shooter, Kizer did say that authorities obtained a murder warrant against him. 
 
 And, according to the police spokesman, the suspect "was seen with a handgun in the vehicle right before the shots were fired." 
 
 Johnson is being held in Arizona, meaning he'll have to be extradited to Texas before he can go before a judge there -- a process that Kizer said could take "several days or several weeks." 
 
 Police have talked to others allegedly in the same SUV as Johnson, according to Kizer, who described them as "persons of interest" but not outright suspects. ||||| One charged Mutschlechner murder investigation 
 
 Dalton LaFerney | News Editor 
 
 @daltonlaferney 
 
 Wednesday, Jan. 6: 
 
 Police said they have interviewed the other men who were in the SUV with 20-year-old Eric Johnson, but have charged only Johnson for the murder of Sara Mutschlechner. 
 
 The others were questioned as witnesses. 
 
 “Investigators feel confident that [Johnson] was the lone shooter,” Denton police spokesman Shane Kizer wrote in a press release. 
 
 Johnson is still locked up in Yuma, Arizona, where some Denton investigators have gone to follow leads. 
 
 Tuesday, Jan. 5: 
 
 Eric Jamal Johnson, 20, remains in U.S. Marshal custody, and police said Tuesday that witnesses allege Johnson held the weapon which was fired toward a car driven by Sara Mutschlechner, who was shot and killed Friday morning. Police said they have not recovered the weapon, described as a black semi-automatic handgun. 
 
 The U.S. Marine Corps said Johnson is a corporal in Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One. Johnson was arrested at an air station in Yuma, where he was stationed. 
 
 Police do not know much more about Johnson. The authorities identified Johnson by the pseudonym “SantanaSage” and Denton police spokesman Shane Kiser said Johnson has ties to the Denton area, but did not say where he is from. 
 
 Kiser said the men in the SUV made “comments of sexual nature” to Mutschlechner and another female passenger, which started the alleged verbal confrontation between the men riding with Johnson and those riding with Mutschlechner. 
 
 An affidavit reports the men driving the SUV pulled to the right side of Mutschlechner’s car, shouted they wanted to “F—” the women in the car. One passenger, named Cori in the affidavit, responded “that he didn’t appreciate their comments and one of the males in the [SUV] back seat told [Cori] he would ‘beat his ass.'” 
 
 The driver of the SUV, according to the affidavit, stated, “I’ll shoot your ass.” 
 
 At least two of men in the SUV — which was recovered by police Tuesday and turned out to be a grey Honda Pilot, not a Lexus or Toyota — were at a New Year’s Eve party attended by Mutschlechner and her passengers. Kiser said it is unclear whether the men or Mutschlechner’s group had any interaction at the party. 
 
 “We have a lot more to do,” Kiser said, saying he would not speculate whether more arrests would be made in the investigation. 
 
 Denton police held a press conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday, confirming details in the case of Sara Mutschlechner. 
 
 Click here to watch the press conference. 
 
 Tuesday morning: 
 
 Denton police said Tuesday morning that Eric Jamal Johnson was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Yuma, Arizona, in connection with the shooting death of Sara Mutschlechner Friday morning. 
 
 The investigation is still underway in Denton, according to a press release. The Denton Police Department will have a news conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday to provide more details. 
 
 Monday, Jan. 4: 
 
 Denton police spokesman Shane Kizer said Monday police no longer knew the color, make or model of the SUV from which witnesses said shots rang following an apparent argument with Mutschlechner’s passengers. 
 
 Original reports said the SUV was either a dark Lexus or Toyota SUV. Witnesses told police that about five or six men filled the SUV. 
 
 Mutschlechner, who is said to have been driving a car full of people home Sunday morning, was shot in the head about 2 a.m., causing her to hit another vehicle before crashing into a utility pole. She died hours later at Denton Regional Medical Center. 
 
 Police are investigating a party that went down at Crisoforo Drive in Denton, where police said witnesses allege some of the men in the SUV were celebrating. 
 
 According to the police, “words were exchanged between the occupants of the SUV and the occupants in the victim’s vehicle” before a person fired multiple shots at Mutschlechner’s car. 
 
 Featured Image: A girl looks at her candle as friends of Sara Mutschlechner share memories of her during the candlelight vigil held by Zeta Tau Alpha. Kristen Watson | DRC ||||| Sara Wynette Mutschlechner (Photo: WFAA / Facebook) 
 
 DENTON – An arrest has been made in connection with the New Year's Day murder of Sara Mutschlechner, a student at the University of North Texas. 
 
 Eric Jamal Johnson, 20, was taken into custody after being located in Yuma, Arizona by the U.S. Marshals Service Tuesday morning after a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Denton Police Department. Johnson is a Marine and was stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, according to Marine Corps Public Affairs Officer Capt. Justin Smith. 
 
 Johnson was arrested at the base at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. 
 
 Eric Jamal Johnson, 20, was taken into custody after being located in Yuma, Arizona by the U.S. Marshal Service Tuesday morning. 
 
 Denton Police said Wednesday that they believe Johnson was the shooter, and that four others were in his SUV when he pulled the trigger. Police are treating the four others as persons of interest, and are working to interview them, said Denton Police spokesman Officer Shane Kizer. 
 
 Denton police detectives were in Arizona Wednesday to interview Johnson. 
 
 The want to extradite him to Denton County, which could take several days to several weeks, depending on whether Johnson waives extradition. 
 
 Authorities have searched Johnson's SUV, but wouldn't go into detail on what they found. They are still searching for the murder weapon. 
 
 Mutschlechner, 20, was the designated driver for her three friends after a New Year's Eve party when she was shot in the head while driving near the intersection of Elm Street and University Drive in Denton. 
 
 According to Officer Kizer, the suspect's vehicle — a silver Honda Pilot — pulled up next to Mutschlechner's vehicle around 2 a.m. on New Year's Day. Two of the occupants of the Honda were at the party that Mutschlechner and her friends had attended, but authorities are not aware of any interaction between the two groups at that event. 
 
 Kizer said some of the occupants of the suspect's vehicle began talking with the occupants of Mutschlechner's vehicle, and it was amicable until the men in the suspect's vehicle began making derogatory comments towards the women in the victim's vehicle. 
 
 Eric Jamal Johnson (Photo: Yuma County Sheriff's Office) 
 
 That led to heated words being exchanged between the groups before someone in the suspect's SUV fired two shots at the other vehicle. 
 
 Mutschlechner was struck in the head by one of the shots and lost control of the vehicle, eventually crashing into an electric pole. She was later pronounced dead at the hospital. 
 
 A Marine Corps spokesman said Johnson was on regularly-scheduled leave for the holidays. He has family in Fort Worth, though News 8 has been unable to reach them. 
 
 Johnson remains active duty, but that could change as the investigation continues, said Marine Corps Public Affairs Officer Capt. Justin E. Smith. 
 
 A person who does not want to be identified has seen the surveillance video caught by cameras at Crossroads Bar. 
 
 "They were flying past. They came through that light fast," the person told News 8. "As soon as the SUV passes the car, [Mutschlechner] loses control." 
 
 We caught up with Arian Helm, who has known Johnson since elementary school. 
 
 "'He couldn't have done this...' that was my first reaction," he said. "I'm just shocked. I'm speechless, you know?" 
 
 Officer Kizer said authorities began pursuing Johnson based off of witness interviews and social media information. They were able to track down the suspect beginning with his street name, "Santana Sage." He has been in the Marines since August of 2013. 
 
 Several hundred people held a candlelight vigil over the weekend to honor Sara Mutschlechner. 
 
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– A 20-year-old US Marine stationed in Arizona has become the only person arrested in the New Year's Eve road rage shooting of University of North Texas student Sara Mutschlechner. Eric Jamal Johnson, a corporal who has been in the military since 2013, was taken into custody at the Marine air station in Yuma, which is more than 1,000 miles away from Denton, Texas, where Mutschlechner was shot dead, CNN reports. A police spokesman says the 20-year-old student was shot after a "verbal confrontation" between passengers in her car and men in an SUV, reports the North Texas Daily. The police spokesman says that after the SUV pulled up, it was an "amicable conversation to begin with, but quickly went downhill and some derogatory statements were made toward the female occupants of [Mutschlechner's] vehicle." He says shots were fired from the SUV after male passengers in Mutschlechner's car reacted angrily to the "very derogatory" remarks, which were of a "sexual nature," reports CNN. Investigators say some members of both groups had been at the same party before the 2am shooting. Police haven't named Johnson as the shooter or said whether there will be more arrests, reports WFAA, though they have said that he was seen with a handgun inside the vehicle before the shooting.