The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating the events that led to the shooting death of a 25-year-old Marine sentry in Georgia, the Marine Corps has confirmed.
Twenty-five-year-old Marine Sgt. Derek Diesel died from a gunshot wound to the head on Aug. 18 while on-duty as an armed sentry at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, according to a military mishap report. The report was not added to the online military safety brief until the middle of September.
Diesel, who joined the Marine Corps in 2014, was assigned to the Marine Corps Security Force Regiment tasked with guarding the submarine base, according to the Marine Corps. Kings Bay is home to the Navy’s East Coast ballistic missile nuclear submarines armed with Trident nuclear missiles.
Marine officials acknowledged that an investigation is underway but did not release any additional information.
Diesel is survived by his wife, Kara, and two-year-old daughter, according to his obituary.
Kara Diesel said in an email to Marine Corps Times Wednesday that despite any suspicious circumstances making the gunshot seem like it was self-inflicted, she insists it was not suicide.
“We are still waiting on answers on what actually happened," Kara Diesel said in the email. “My husband was an amazing man who impacted so many Marines, family and friends and we all miss him very much.”
