Washington state police are investigating the July murder of a 38-year-old woman in her motel room. Their prime suspect is an Army Ranger who was seen entering the room, and who the following day opened fire on two cars before turning the gun on himself.

Pvt. Krisha Mahadevan-Prasad, 20, had reported to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, on July 10, according to a U.S. Army Special Operations Command spokesman.

“We are aware of the incident that occurred July 24th, 2018 in the vicinity of Hood Canal Bridge, and are cooperating with the Washington State Patrol,” Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt told Army Times on Tuesday.

Pvt. Krisha Mahadevan-Prasad checked into a Renton, Washington, Econo Lodge on July 24. (Renton Police Department)

On July 23, Renton police responded to the discovery of a woman’s body in an Econo Lodge room. They were able to identify a man who had been staying in another room, confirming via security footage that he had entered the woman’s room for approximately three minutes before driving off in a 1995 Honda Accord with New Jersey license plates.

“Investigators arrived to discover the woman had suffered numerous cut wounds to the body including what appeared to be intentional mutilation occurring after death,” according to a July 24 police department release.

That day, they were informed by Washington State Patrol that their suspect had been involved in a shooting northwest of Seattle and that he had killed himself.

“The circumstances of the Renton homicide had investigators concerned that Mahadevan-Prasad may be responsible for other acts of violence,” the Renton release said.

The soldier was fresh out of training when he arrived at JBLM. He had joined the Army out of Woodridge, New Jersey, last September and completed infantry one-station unit training, airborne school and Ranger selection at Fort Benning, Georgia, before heading out to Washington.

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Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.

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