Two years after dropping out of high school, Brittany Armstrong had finally settled on a career choice. She wanted to be a police officer and recently took the first step by joining the Jupiter Police Department Explorers program.

But today, the man who may have pointed her life in that direction stands accused of killing her.

Thomas Sutton, 26, was arrested and charged with manslaughter in the shooting of Armstrong, 18, in his apartment at about 3 a.m. today, said Jupiter police spokesman Sgt. Scott Pascarella.

It is the first shooting death in Jupiter this year.

Armstrong and Sutton worked at a Chili's restaurant in Jupiter for slightly less than a year.

Jonathan Gates, a former boyfriend of Armstrong's, said Sutton told people he had been a police officer in another state.

Gates, 22, and Armstrong broke up in late January after dating for eight months. That's when Gates believes Armstrong became better friends with Sutton, who he thinks gave her the idea to pursue a law enforcement career.

"She started hanging out with Tom. . . Now, I don't believe he was a cop," Gates said.

Sutton has no criminal history in Florida or Michigan, where he lived before moving to Florida, records show. No employment information could be found supporting his alleged claim of being a police officer.

Sutton, who called 911 after the shooting in his Thelma Avenue apartment, was being held at the Palm Beach County Jail.

Pascarella said Jupiter police were still processing the crime scene late this afternoon. Police believe no other people were in the apartment at the time of the shooting.

Friends and family described Armstrong as friendly and outgoing.

Since joining the Explorers about a month ago, she had not missed a meeting and had received an award for community service, said Jupiter police officer Kristi Coleman, an adviser for the program.

Coleman said Armstrong was "bubbly" - the same word used by friend Chelsea Bush, who said she'd known Armstrong since the fourth grade.

"She was really bubbly and crazy," Bush said. "She was a good person and she's really going to be missed."

Last Saturday, Armstrong joined a group of Explorers in a project to clean up a West Palm Beach neighborhood.

"She had a strong desire to be a police officer," said Coleman, who added that Armstrong made friends quickly with other Explorers in her group.

Armstrong, who lived with her mother, Michelle, in Jupiter Farms, earned her GED in October 2006, eight months after withdrawing from Jupiter High School.

Her death shocked relatives, who were notified this morning.

Armstrong's father, Russell, who lives in Boynton Beach, called his parents in Indiana early today to tell them his only child was dead.

"The police were there at his house to break the news," said Bob Armstrong, Brittany's grandfather. "He knew it was bad because they came in person."

Bob Armstrong said he and his wife, Frances, didn't get to see their granddaughter very often because she lived so far away.

The last visit was about a year ago.

Still, the couple have happy memories of Brittany as a child visiting them during summer vacation. They went camping once and visited an amusement park. They have a photo of Brittany with a flute, one of a handful of instruments they said she tried.

"Rusty's whole life has been wrapped up in this child," Bob Armstrong said of his son. "It if wasn't for her, lots of times he didn't know what he would have done."

Russell and Michelle Armstrong divorced when Brittany was a baby.

Although she and Gates were no longer dating, Armstrong would come to his family's house to hang out after her shifts at Chili's because she lived close by.

Gates' mother, Deborah Gates-Kalifz, said Armstrong recently asked her if she could move in with the family. Gates-Kalifz told her no.

"She was a good girl, but was really reaching out for something," Gates-Kalifz said.