SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The U.S. Navy has identified the sailor who was shot and killed in the East Village early Saturday morning.
The sailor who died in the shooting was Seaman Apprentice Albert Lee Soto, according to Navy spokesman Brian O'Rourke. Soto was an operations specialist assigned to USS Pinckney at Naval Base San Diego, O'Rourke said.
Soto was from New York and had enlisted in the Navy in Oct. 2023.
"Our thoughts are with the Sailor's family, friends and shipmates," O'Rourke said.
According to the San Diego Police Department, the shooting happened after an altercation just before 1 a.m. on August 31 in the area of 9th Avenue and F Street.
“Once there, the officer located a man on the ground suffering from at least one gunshot wound.”
The man was taken to the hospital, where he later died, police said. The victim was described by the department as an 18-year-old Black man.
The Navy later confirmed to ABC 10News that the victim was a sailor assigned to a ship homeported in San Diego.
“The preliminary information gathered is that the victim had been involved in an altercation with a group of men inside a local nightclub several blocks away prior to the shooting. Detectives are working to determine if the two altercations are related,” San Diego Police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
