OAKLAND TWP — Investigators believe Maximillian W. Halterman was fatally shot Tuesday night with a rifle at his rental home on Davis Road.

The suspected gunman, 19-year-old Alec D. Miller, a neighbor who goes by the nickname “Shooter,” later allegedly admitted to the killing — by way of chilling text messages to a friend.

“I went to Max's house and smoked him,” Miller said in one text that night, according to state police.

The friend texted back: “what you mean smoked? He gone?”

Miller replied, “yea I shot him in the neck and head.”

The allegations are included in a criminal complaint filed by police Wednesday night charging Miller with a general count of homicide.

Police obtained an arrest warrant for the defendant and entered him into the National Crime Information Center as a wanted homicide suspect.

There were no reported sightings of Miller as of 8 a.m. today and his whereabouts are still unknown, according to authorities.

Investigators almost immediately began piecing together what happened after discovering Halterman's body, police said, adding that detectives interviewed family members and friends of both men.

One of Halterman's sisters told police she received a phone call from another woman, who claimed that a man named “Shooter” was the shooter, according to charging documents.

Pick up Friday's Butler Eagle or subscribe online to learn about more of the evidence that police have found in the case.