A top Marine combat instructor was killed in a traffic confrontation
Staff Sgt. Dylan Rasmussen was named the Runner-up Combat Instructor of the Year for the service in 2025. He was shot during a traffic confrontation in North Carolina.
Matt White
Published Oct 23, 2025 2:11 PM EDT
A Marine decorated earlier this year as one of the service’s top combat instructors was shot and killed Sunday in an off-duty traffic confrontation near Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Marine Staff Sgt. Dylan Rasmussen, 31, was riding a motorcycle in Onslow County, North Carolina, which is home to Lejeune, when he was confronted and shot by a local man, according to police.
The Onslow County Sheriff’s Department charged a local man, James Wells, 43, with second-degree murder in the shooting, according to a news release.
Rasmussen was a combat instructor at the Marine School of Infantry East in January when he was named the service’s Runner-up Marine Combat Instructor of the Year. Rasmussen shook hands with Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith as Smith awarded him a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal at a ceremony in Virginia.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-killed-rasmussen/
