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A Utah soldier was killed last weekend in a suspicious shooting near Fort Hood, just two weeks before his discharge.
The body of 30-year-old Jed "Cole" Paul Naisbitt was found early Saturday in a vehicle on a street in Killeen, the city at the gate of the central Texas Army post.
Naisbitt's father, Jed Naisbitt Sr., of Ogden, said he learned from military officers that his son was driving with his roommate, a fellow soldier, when the two were led to think there was a problem with their car about 1 a.m.
Another driver "may have been signalling" to them, the elder Naisbitt said.
When Cole Naisbitt pulled over, the passenger got out to check the car. That's when a motorist got out of another vehicle, walked up to the soldiers' car and, "at point-blank range, shot Cole in the head," the father reported.
The passenger dropped to the ground at the sound of gunfire and did not see the shooter, Naisbitt said, relaying the military's findings.
Killeen police Capt. Margaret Young said no ruling had been made on the nature of the death as of Monday, but she suspected it would be homicide. She said police have no suspects.
Naisbitt Sr. said police have not returned his calls, which he found to be "bizarre."
"We hope we can find out ... why this happened," he said.
Cole Naisbitt graduated from Ogden High School in 1999 and attended Weber State University and the University of Utah before moving to Portland to continue his studies, his father said. He has been a health specialist with the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood since June 2008.
He served as a medic in Iraq from December 2008 to November 2009.
"He would go out into the field and administer first aid," Naisbitt said. "He had a lot of interaction with kids in the villages. ... He was really into taking care of the Iraqi kids and helping them out."
Naisbitt described his son as "a people person."
"He always had a ton of friends, no matter where he went," he said.
Cole Naisbitt was "a wonderful, fun kid — very intelligent," agreed his grandmother, Maureen Naisbitt.
Memorial plans are on hold pending the police investigation, Naisbitt Sr. said.