A 22-year-old groom has been accused of shooting and killing one of his friends during his bachelor party trip in Oklahoma.
Officers with the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office reported to an Airbnb cabin in Oklahoma just before 1 a.m. on Saturday, April 4, in response to a shooting, according to KBTX.
Upon their arrival, detectives found Braden Uhlmann suffering from a gunshot wound. Uhlmann was then taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died at the age of 21.
Agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said that Nolan Dain Engel admitted to being the shooter. While speaking to investigators, Engel explained he was on his bachelor party trip with three other friends when he heard knocking noises and saw a person’s shadow outside of their cabin.
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As the group was startled by the perceived intruder, Engel said that he fired a shot from a 9 mm handgun.
After he shot the gun, Engel told investigators that he and his friends found Uhlmann lying on the porch with a gunshot wound to his chest.
Engel was arrested and taken into custody at the McCurtain County Jail on a second-degree murder charge. He has since been released after he posted a $250,000 bond.
It is not currently clear if Engel has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following his arrest. The McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Us Weekly’s request for comment regarding the case.
The investigation into the fatal shooting remains ongoing.
Murder is considered second-degree when the victim is killed without premeditation or “malice aforethought,” according to the Oklahoma Legal Group. Second-degree murder differs from first-degree murder because the latter takes place when the killing is premeditated and intentional.
Additionally, first-degree murder “includes killings that occur during the commission of certain felonies under Oklahoma’s felony murder rule, such as arson, burglary or rape, or the intentional killing of a law enforcement officer,” per the website.
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A second-degree murder is the “result from actions that are imminently dangerous and demonstrate a depraved disregard for human life but without a specific intent to kill, or killings that occur during the commission of a felony not covered by the first-degree murder felony murder rule.”
Those found guilty of second-degree murder in the state of Oklahoma are sentenced to no less than ten years in prison, while they could also receive a life sentence. Meanwhile, those found guilty of first-degree murder in Oklahoma automatically receive a life sentence.
