Rockville Remembers Michelle Miller

The halls of Rockville High School were full of tearful students and nearby parking lots were dotted with television news trucks Monday as a community processed what happened to one of its own.

Michelle Miller, a 17-year-old senior, was shot and killed by Adam Anthony Arndt, 31, an Army staff sergeant, who then turned the gun on himself at his home in Germantown, Montgomery County police said. 

Miller, who had been reported missing, knew Arndt because she had plans to enlist in the U.S. Army Reserve after she graduated, police said.

Kevin Miller told WJLA that his daughter left home at 9:15 p.m. Sunday, sent him vague information via text about where she was and then stopped replying and answering her phone calls.

Her father called police Monday morning, according to the WJLA report.

Police discovered Michelle Miller's body hours later, around 10 a.m., when they forced their way into Arndt's Germantown home.

By Monday evening, the news was just starting to sink in for a group of Rockville High students.

“I just talked to her on Friday,” said Anastasia St. Hilaire, a 16-year-old junior, who as a freshman played basketball with Milller. “She didn’t seem like the type to have any enemies.”

St. Hilaire was joined by Jean Lanier, 15, and Jessica Mason, 17. They were walking to a tennis court not far from the Maus-Warfield Army Reserve Center on Baltimore Road in Rockville. The girls said they just needed to get some air and find something to do.

The students described the mood at Rockville High, where students were notified about Miller's death, as sad and somber. Students everywhere were crying, in need of comfort, they said.

The grief has already begun to spill out of the school's halls and onto social media.

Marc Cohen, principal of Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, tweeted:

"Prayers tonight to @RHSprincipal & the students & staff of Rockville High. We mourn with you & will hold you in our hearts. #thesenecaway

Rockville High student Matt Olsen posted this tweet:

“I will always remember her being my patrol at Rock Creek Valley [Elementary School]. RIP Michelle Miller.”

Others posted photos of Michelle on Twitter and on Instagram, where one user wrote:

“#RIP Michelle Miller you won’t be forgotten. You will always be in the memory of Rockville. All prayers will go toward you and your family.”

St. Hilaire, Lanier and Mason said they were still processing the news that Miller was gone.

“I can’t believe someone would do that to her,” Lanier said. She and Mason were team managers for the basketball team the year Miller played.

There were echoes of “nice,” “sweet” and “outgoing” when her friends were asked what type of person Miller was.

“The school will never be the same without her,” Lanier said.

Miller was an active member of the senior class, an honors student and a member of the varsity lacrosse team, Rockville Principal Debra S. Munk said in a letter sent home to parents Monday.

School officials said grief counselors would be made available to students on Tuesday.

“For those of you who did not know Michelle, we ask that you respect our sadness and support us with your understanding,” Munk wrote in her letter to parents.

Patch editor Greg Cohen contributed to this report.