Michael Hetle, 52, allegedly shot and killed his 24-year-old neighbor Javon Prather on Tuesday afternoon in Springfield, Virginia, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
"We can confirm Michael Hetle is a career civil servant who works at NASA Headquarters in Washington in the agency’s Enterprise Protection Program, which provides cross-agency independent risk mitigation assessment of NASA programs and activities", the statement said on Wednesday.
Hetle is held without bond after being charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, the release said.
The investigation into the shooting incident is still ongoing, the release added.
US media reported that Hetle was previously involved in two fatal shootings when he worked as a police officer in the US state of Washington, but he was cleared from having a connection in both incidents.
