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Indiana man charged with murder in Dutch soldier's shooting death, allegedly told friend he 'just spazzed'

Shamar Duncan, a 22-year-old Indiana man accused of shooting and killing a Dutch soldier in downtown Indianapolis, was charged with murder on Thursday.

A 22-year-old Indiana man accused of opening fire on a group of Dutch soldiers, killing one and wounding two others, was charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder on Thursday, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced. 

Shamar Duncan was arrested on Tuesday after the shooting in the early hours of Saturday morning outside a hotel in downtown Indianapolis. 

Simmie Poetsema, a 26-year-old member of the Dutch Commando Corps, was pronounced dead on Monday. Two other Dutch soldiers were also struck by gunfire and suffered nonlife-threatening injuries. They were in the United States for military training at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, a military base about 70 miles southeast of Indianapolis. 

Duncan and two other men got into an altercation with the Dutch soldiers on the street as they returned from a club around 3:30 a.m.

After that initial scuffle, Duncan fired shots from a pickup truck, later telling a friend that he "just spazzed," according to an affidavit obtained by the Indianapolis Star

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A witness told investigators that Duncan's group was "looking for trouble" the morning of the incident and had gotten into a scuffle with a different group before the shooting, the affidavit said. 

"What they were doing outside, I'm not altogether sure, but I'm told the alleged perpetrators did a drive-by shooting and ultimately three were victimized by that shooting," Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said this week. 

An attorney for Duncan could not be reached for comment on Thursday. 

Mears, the prosecutor, said that the two other men who were with Duncan could still face criminal charges

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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