A U.S. Army sergeant on holiday was found shot to death in San Antonio, Texas, military officials said on Saturday.
Jessica Mitchell, 30, “was the victim of several gunshot wounds,” Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston said in a statement.
Mitchell was found in a vehicle by firefighters responding to a report of a vehicle collision, said NBC affiliate WOAI in San Antonio.
Mitchell, a dental specialist, was taken to San Antonio University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the base said.
The Army’s Criminal Investigation Division and the San Antonio Police Department are investigating, military officials said.
Mitchell has been assigned to the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence since August 2019 and previously worked at a joint-based dental clinic, they said.
Her sister Ashley Mitchell told WOAI that Jessica made at least one post on social media about “touching the new year” hours before her body was discovered.
“Why would anyone want to do that?” Ashley Mitchell said. “Why do people commit such heinous acts of crime for no reason?”
Major-General Dennis LeMaster, commander-general of the Medical Center of Excellence, issued a statement saying employees were “devastated” by his death.
The fatal shooting comes amid violence and investigations into missing persons linked to Fort Hood, a Texas Army facility about 147 miles from San Antonio.
Last year, the dismembered body of the missing Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén was found near Fort Hood. Spc. Aaron Robinson, 20, was wanted in connection with her disappearance, but he shot and killed himself.
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