The military was mourning two soldiers Tuesday who were fatally shot while trying to protect a woman from a gun-toting man in a South Carolina bar. 
 
 Staff Sgt. Charles Allen Judge Jr., 40, and Sgt. First Class Jonathan Michael Prins, 29, “were acting as good Samaritans when they were shot,” said Capt. Adam Myrick of the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. 
 
 Joseph Elijah Mills, 25, is charged with two counts of murder in Lexington County, South Carolina. Lexington County Sheriff's Office 
 
 And they paid for their bravery with their lives. 
 
 "We are shocked and saddened by the loss of Staff Sgt. Judge," said his commanding officer at the McCrady Training Center, Col. Renita Berry. "He was an outstanding instructor who served with great dedication and enthusiasm and demonstrated unwavering commitment to his peers, his students and this organization every day. He will be missed tremendously.” 
 
 U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Van McCarty said he served with Judge in Iraq in 2004 and called him a “soldier’s soldier.” 
 
 Prins was a drill sergeant at Fort Jackson who had served in Afghanistan and in Iraq. 
 
 "The way SFC Prins was taken from us, is a testament to his bravery and his selfless service," fellow Fort Jackson drill sergeant Brandonn Baldwin posted. 
 
 Joseph Elijah Mills, 25, was arrested shortly after Sunday’s double killing and charged with two counts of murder. 
 
 “I’m very sorry about what happened,” Mills said at his arraignment Monday, The State newspaper reported. “I never meant for it to happen like that. I was being lynched by eight people because I was chasing a girl who grabbed drugs off the seat and took off running.” 
 
 Sgt. First Class Jonathan Michael Prins, 29, was fatally shot while trying to protect a woman in a South Carolina bar. SFC Jonathon Prins' GoFund Me 
 
 Judge and Prins were at the Frayed Knot Bar & Grill in Lake Murray, west of Columbia, when Mills “physically assaulted a female companion and was physically separated from her by several bar patrons,” according to arrest warrants obtained by NBC News. 
 
 Among those who stepped in to help the woman were Judge and Prins, the warrants state. 
 
 “Mills then presented a handgun” and allegedly fired the fatal shots. 
 
 Judge was hit twice and Prins three times, according to the Lexington County Coroner’s Office. 
 
 Mills, who lives in Little Mountain, north of Lake Murray, was arrested a short time later. 
 
 The warrants did not identify the woman Mills allegedly slammed into a railing or divulge her condition. 
 
 Judge was the father of a son and daughter, Lt. Col. Cindi King, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina National Guard, told NBC News. 
 
 Prins was married with three children ages 3 to 9, The State newspaper reported. ||||| The man charged with killing two soldiers, who officials say were trying to protect a woman at a remote Lake Murray bar, said in court Monday that he was chasing a girl who grabbed drugs and took off running. 
 
 Joseph Elijah Mills, 25, of Little Mountain, is charged with two counts of murder, and a judge on Monday would not let him out of the Lexington County jail. Mills told the judge he was sorry for what happened, but he thought he was “being lynched” by people who interceded. 
 
 The victims are Charles Allen Judge Jr., 40, and Jonathon Michael Prins, 29, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher. 
 
 Judge was shot twice in the left torso, Fisher said. Prins was shot three times in the left torso and neck. 
 
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 A U.S. Army spokesman would not name the soldiers but said that one was a Guardsman assigned to Camp McCrady on Fort Jackson and the other was an Army active duty soldier. 
 
 Lt. Col. Cindi King, spokeswoman for the S.C. National Guard, said Judge joined the Guard in 1994. He was a staff sergeant, and is survived by a son and a daughter, the spokeswoman said. 
 
 Judge deployed to support Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004-05, King said. He was an engineer instructor at the McCrady Training Center in the 218th Regiment Leadership Command, S.C. Army National Guard. 
 
 Judge’s commander at the training center, Col. Renita Berry, said his fellow soldiers were shocked and saddened at Judge’s death. “He was an outstanding instructor who served with great dedication and enthusiasm and demonstrated unwavering commitment to his peers, his students and this organization every day,” Berry said. “He will be missed tremendously.” 
 
 Brig. Gen. Van McCarty deployed with Judge in 2004, and described him as a “soldier’s soldier.” 
 
 Prins, a sergeant first class, is survived by a wife and three children between 3 and 9 years old, the coroner said. 
 
 The soldiers “were acting as good Samaritans when they were shot,” said Capt. Adam Myrick, spokesman for the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. The Facebook page for the club, Frayed Knot Bar & Grill, had posted that the two men were trying to help a woman who fled into the business. The bar is in northern tip of Lexington County near the Newberry County line. 
 
 The arrest warrants state that Mills physically assaulted a woman and that several bar patrons – including the soldiers – separated him from her. He then shot them with a handgun, according to the warrants. 
 
 The woman wasn’t seriously injured, said Myrick. 
 
 Myrick said officers are interviewing dozens of witnesses. “We continue to look into what role, if any, a few persons of interest had in the incident,” Myrick said. “ But we are not actively searching for other suspects after the arrest of Joseph Mills.” 
 
 The incident was captured on video surveillance, warrants say. The State has submitted a request for the footage but has not yet received it. Officials declined to say if the shooting happened inside or outside the bar. 
 
 Judge Arthur Myers, a Lexington County magistrate, denied bond for Mills at a hearing Monday afternoon. When asked if he understood the charges against him, Mills said, “Not really.” He also said he had not spoken to a lawyer by the time of the hearing. 
 
 Mills tried to tell his story to the judge, who reminded him multiple times of his right to remain silent. 
 
 “I’m very sorry about what happened,” Mills said. “I never meant for it to happen like that. I was being lynched by eight people because I was chasing a girl who grabbed drugs off the seat and took off running.” 
 
 The Frayed Knot closed Sunday after the incident. According to its Facebook post, it will reopen Wednesday morning. 
 
 Mills is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 9. ||||| “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” -John 15:13 
 
 SFC Jonathon Prins and SSG Charles Allen Judge, Jr. were not in uniform Saturday night. They were not on duty, and no one ordered them to risk their lives. They simply acted to do what they knew was right, moving without hesitation to risk their lives for a stranger. They died, but she lived. Those who knew them say they wouldn’t have had it any other way. 
 
 “He was a great man and knowing him, if he knew what the outcome was going to be, he would have done the same thing,” Judge’s brother-in-law, Jon Adams, said Sunday. A soldier who served beside Prins offered almost the same words about him. 
 
 Prins and Judge were at the Frayed Knot Bar & Grill in Chapin just before midnight Saturday. Joseph Elijah Mills, 25, of Little Mountain, allegedly began arguing with a woman and another man outside the bar. Multiple witnesses said Mills assaulted the woman, slamming her into a stair railing, then pulled out a gun. 
 
 Prins and Judge moved without hesitation when they saw the woman assaulted, according to witnesses. As they moved, Mills allegedly fired into the air, and the two men attempted to get to him and disarm him. Mills shot both Prins and Judge, killing them, again according to witnesses, then ran away from the scene. 
 
 Prins was a soldier, currently posted as a drill sergeant at Fort Jackson, training other soldiers. He was deployed twice to Afghanistan and once to Iraq. His brother in arms, Sgt. Brandon Baldwin, spoke Sunday night about his fallen comrade. 
 
 “SFC Prins was a warrior built and forged to his solid state through war. He and I served 8 years together in the 2/327th Infantry Battalion. Both currently Drill Sergeants out of Fort Jackson, we have deployed three different times: once to Iraq, twice to Afghanistan. 2/327 is named the No Slack BN. The No Slack Battalion has seen the fiercest fighting Afghanistan has ever seen. There is actually a movie out about the BNs deployment called The Hornets Nest. SFC Prins was apart of the Strong Eagle 3 mission that the movie is filmed from. SFC Prins had the instinct to protect the weak instilled into him over the last 10 years of service. The way SFC Prins was taken from us, is a testament to his bravery and his selfless service. The No Slack family is still in a state of disbelief. Just yesterday his wife Roxanne was just at our baby shower. Still doesn’t feel real. I knew SFC Prins would go out a hero.” 
 
 Judge was also a soldier and a teacher, an engineer instructor with the South Carolina National Guard at the McCrady Training Center in Eastover and an Iraq veteran. The 218TH Leadership Regiment 1ST BN Engineers posted a photo of him on Facebook Sunday night, writing “It is with a heavy heart we say goodbye to SSG Charles A Judge JR. You will be truly missed by so many!! RIP Judge, see you on the other side brother!” 
 
 His Commander at the 218th Regiment Leadership Command at the McCrady Training Center, U.S. Army Col. Renita Berry, commander 218th Regiment (Leadership), shared the following statement. “On behalf of the Soldiers, staff and families of the 218th Regiment, we are shocked and saddened by the loss of Staff. Sgt Judge. He was an outstanding instructor who served with great dedication and enthusiasm and demonstrated unwavering commitment to his peers, his students and this organization every day. He will be missed tremendously.” 
 
 A friend and comrade who asked not to be named offered more memories of Judge. “He served as a combat engineer in Iraq. Left behind a son and daughter. He volunteered countless hours to helping homeless veterans through Operation Stand Down. He cared about people and did whatever he could to help out whenever he could. Even with the long hours that we work as instructors, Judge would leave McCrady to head to the Upstate for a meeting with the volunteers or spend time with his children. He will be sorely missed around the community.” 
 
 Frequent customers described the Frayed Knot as a locally owned and community friendly place. It sits on the edge of Lake Murray near Dreher Island, and Prins and Judge certainly did not go there expecting to run into trouble, or expecting to be asked to give their lives. When the moment came, however, they moved. The life of a stranger was more important to them than their own lives. 
 
 Prins and Judge leave behind five children between them. The Frayed Knot joined with family and friends of the heroes Friday for a boat parade and fundraiser. Another fundraiser is being planned in their honor, and Midlands Anchor will supply details as soon as they are finalized. Charles Judge was 40 years old. Jonathon Prins was 29. The woman they gave their lives to save was not seriously injured. They died as they lived, as heroes and as victors. 
 
 Lexington County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Mills Sunday afternoon. He is charged with two counts of murder. 
 
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– Witnesses say two soldiers were only trying to protect a woman from her attacker when they were fatally shot at a South Carolina bar shortly before midnight on Saturday. Friends and family say they wouldn't have had it any other way. Charles Judge Jr. and Jonathon Prins intervened after seeing a man with a gun "kicking and hitting" a woman outside Chapin's Frayed Knot Bar & Grill, the owner tells the Army Times. Judge and Prins had "their hands up trying to talk to him" when they were shot "in cold blood," he adds. Judge, a father of two, was shot twice in the torso. Prins, a father of three, was shot three times in the torso and neck, reports the State. The shooter then fled the scene, leaving the woman uninjured, witnesses say. Joseph Mills, 25, was arrested Sunday and charged with two counts of murder. But "knowing [Judge], if he knew what the outcome was going to be, he would have done the same thing," his brother-in-law says of the 40-year-old Iraq war veteran and engineering instructor with the SC National Guard. "He'd do it 100 times again," adds his supervisor. "He's a hero." Prins likewise "had the instinct to protect the weak instilled into him over the last 10 years of service," a colleague says of the 29-year-old drill sergeant at Fort Jackson, who'd been on two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, per the Midlands Anchor. His death "is a testament to his bravery and his selfless service." In court on Monday, Mills said he was "very sorry about what happened," per NBC News. "I never meant for it to happen like that. I was being lynched by eight people because I was chasing a girl who grabbed drugs off the seat and took off running."