Authorities have arrested a 17-year-old male in connection with the fatal shooting of Citadel cadet Dustin Rose, 19, and his childhood friend Samson Campbell, 18. The DeLand Police Department announced an arrest warrant was obtained for the teenager, who was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on Wednesday.

Rose and Campbell were discovered deceased in a vacant Florida lot around 10:40 p.m. on July 29. Officials stated at a news conference that the suspect and the victims knew each other and that the arrested individual has a significant criminal history.

Rose, a student at The Citadel Military College of South Carolina, was home on a break at the time of the incident. The Citadel President Gen. Frank McKenzie described Rose as a "team leader and was a valued friend and classmate." Rose was also a member of the South Carolina National Guard.

Dustin Rose's mother, Rachel Rose, remembered her son as "such a light in our family." She told Fox News Digital, "When they took him they took the very best part of me. We are devastated."

Patrick McGeehan, a former homicide detective and criminal defense attorney, suggested that the victims' cellphones could be crucial in determining a motive. "And they still have the phone, the one kid still had the phone, which leads me to believe that's not a robbery. It may be something else, because who's going to leave a thousand dollar smart phone if they're doing robbery?" McGeehan told Fox News Digital. He added that a forensic audit of the phones could yield extensive information. "They will go through their phones. They will do a forensic audit of their phones, that is something that agencies in the area are capable of doing."

Campbell, originally from DeLand, had been staying with his aunt in the Chicago area and was in town to mourn the recent death of his family's dog. His aunt, Karen Chobin, stated that Campbell was staying with Rose's grandparents and that Rose had accompanied him to help spread his dog's ashes. "It was a traumatic loss. It wasn't a passing of old age. It was awful. And then for this to be what he's welcomed with when he goes down there to mourn his loss is devastating," Chobin said.

Rose's aunt, Jaimie Scarola, expressed that his life was cut short, saying, "He was willing to go to the front line and fight for our freedom, including the freedom of the one who took him from us." She continued, "You took him away from not only his family, but you robbed an entire country of a future soldier who didn't get to answer that call."

Surveillance video released by police shows Rose and Campbell walking together on the evening before they were found dead. It remains undetermined if the victims were specifically targeted.