Sailor wounded in Chattanooga shooting dies
A Navy sailor shot in the Chattanooga shooting rampage died Saturday, his step-grandmother confirmed to CBS News.
Darlene Proxmire told CBS Radio News that Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith died with members of his family by his side. Smith was a reservist serving on active duty in Chattanooga.
"He was a very passionate, loving young man, loved his family, and obviously he loved his country," Proxmire told CBS Radio News.
The Navy issued a statement that didn't identify the sailor but said that the petty officer wounded in the shooting died Saturday at 2:17 a.m. Four Marines were also killed in Thursday's attack.
Authorities say Kuwait-born Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, of Hixson, Tennessee, unleashed a barrage of fire at a recruiting center in Chattanooga, then drove several miles away to a Navy and Marine reserve center, where he shot and killed the Marines, and wounded the sailor. Abdulazeez was shot to death by police.
Smith was the father of three young daughters, Proxmire said.
He entered the Navy after losing a college baseball scholarship to a shoulder injury, Proxmire said.
"He loved the Navy," Proxmire said. "As a matter of fact, just before this happened, he joined up again, and then this happened."