LAKEWOOD, Wash. — A man who said he accidentally shot and killed his wife Thursday night in Lakewood has been booked on first-degree manslaughter charges.
Skylar Nemetz, 20, is a Specialist in the 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
The shooting happened at the Beaumont Grand Apartments in the 8500 block of 82nd Street Southwest about 6 p.m.
According to police, Nemetz told detectives he accidentally shot his 19-year-old wife, Danielle, while cleaning his rifle in their third-story apartment.
She died at the scene.
Police said during an interview, Nemetz told detectives that he thought the gun was unloaded, but did admit to intentionally pointing it at his wife and pulling the trigger. Police said Nemetz was never able to articulate exactly why he shot her.
The Pierce County Prosecutor's Office said Danielle was sitting at the computer when Nemetz shot her in the back of the head with an AR-15 rifle.
Neighbor Brandon Cochran said he heard the gunshot.
"I just heard one bang and then I heard him saying, 'Oh my God, oh my God.' And then she started to scream and yell, and then she stopped screaming, and he just kept saying, 'Oh my God, oh my God,'” said Cochran.
He said Nemetz, who was wearing a white T-shirt with blood stains on it, came out of the building looking distraught.
When asked if the shooting was a case of domestic violence, police said they didn’t have a record of officers coming to the unit for domestic violence calls.
Neighbor, friend and fellow soldier Ben Bergmark said he did not hear any arguing before the single gunshot was fired and said his friends had a good marriage.
"He's a hard-working person and I think it was all accidental. They've always been very nice when we would talk to them. And I try to give people the benefit of the doubt as well," said Bergmark.
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