The Marine killed in a Jan. 13 training accident in California has been identified as Lance Corporal Austin Ruiz, 19, of the 3rd Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, based in Okinawa, according to III Marine Expeditionary Force.
Another Marine whose name has not been publicly released remains hospitalized in critical condition after being injured in the small arms live-fire training accident at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, III MEF announced on Wednesday.
The injured Marine is assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, a III MEF news release says.
No specific information about what happened during the accident have been released yet. The 1st Marine Division is investigating the matter.
A native of Naples, Florida, Ruiz was attached to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment when the accident occurred, the III MEF news release says. He and the other Marine were preparing for the start of Integrated Training Exercise 2-17.
"The Lava Dogs of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, along with the rest of the Marine Corps, mourn the tragedy which befell two of our Marines and their families," Ruiz's battalion commander Lt. Col. Jeremiah Salame said in a statement. "Both Marines answered a higher calling to put service before self and there is nothing more admirable or unselfish."
This is not the first death at Twentynine Palms. On March 11, 2013, Pfc. Casey James Holmes was killed during an exercise at the combat training base.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service later determined that a bulldozer ran over Holmes' fighting hole at night, the Chico Enterprise-Record in California reported in 2014.
