Originally published on December 6, 2013
An American chemistry teacher who taught at the International School Benghazi in Libya was killed on Thursday morning (December 5) when he was gunned down while he was doing his morning exercise. The teacher, identified as Ronald Thomas Smith II, was jogging when he was shot by gunmen, who remain unidentified.
Smith's death comes more than a year after Islamist militants stormed the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The U.S. ambassador and three others were killed.
"He was doing his morning exercise when gunmen just shot him. I don't know why," said Adel al Mansouri, a manager at the school in Benghazi. "He was so sweet with everyone."
Smith described himself on his Twitter feed as "Libya's best friend."
According to Reuters, Smith's students in Libya said in an interview over Skype that he was planning to visit his home state of Texas for the holidays.
"We asked him why he came to Libya out of all of the countries in the world. He told us that he didn't come to Libya for the money or anything. He said he just wanted to help the students," said Malik Yamin, one of Smith's students.
"He was the best teacher we had. He came to our house, he helped us study, he was a really nice guy," Yamin said.
Reuters reports, "White House spokesman Jay Carney said there had been no claim of responsibility for the killing and that the Obama administration expected the Libyan government to investigate thoroughly."
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