The man that police officers believe is responsible for a fatal early-morning shooting on Christmas Eve is now behind bars.

Terry Mills, a 35-year-old Manteca man, was arrested on Monday for the shooting death of 47-year-old Ripon resident Robert Thompson shortly after 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning.

According to the Manteca Police Department, Thompson was at a home on the 100 block of N. Walnut Ave. when he was shot. When officers arrived, they discovered Thompson suffering from a single gunshot wound and he was promptly transported to a local trauma center where he succumbed to his injuries.

Detectives working on the case were able to gather information about who may have been Thompson’s shooter, and began searching for Mills. He was found at around 4 p.m. at a home on the 300 block of El Capitan Avenue. Officers took him into custody without incident.

A search warrant of the home uncovered evidence believed to be related to the homicide.

Mills was transported to the San Joaquin County Jail where is he is being held without bail on charges of murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is scheduled to appear today in Department M1 of the Manteca branch of the San Joaquin County Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. for arraignment.

Thompson’s murder was the third that has occurred so far in Manteca in 2020 – tying the 2019 total less that one week before the end of the year.

Police are still investigating the disappearance and apparent murder of 36-year-old Chenin Carlson whose body was discovered last week in an aqueduct near Tracy. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on Carlson’s Manteca home last week, but so far nobody has been taken into custody for her death and investigators have not announced any suspects.

Carlson’s death, at this time, is not considered one of the three homicides that have occurred in Manteca over the last 12 months.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.