Flintridge Prep graduate among five killed in “friendly fire” incident in Afghanistan
A 2008 graduate of a La Cañada Flintridge private school was among the five Americans who died in what was being investigated as a “friendly fire” incident in Afghanistan, according to KTLA.
Scott Studenmund died Monday, Flintridge Preparatory School Headmaster Peter Bachmann said in an email sent to the school community on Tuesday.
“It is with heartbreak that I confirm that Scott Studenmund ’08 was killed in Afghanistan on Monday, June 9, during military engagement,” Bachmann wrote.
Studenmund’s parents were expected to meet with military personnel Tuesday to learn details, according to KTLA.
The five service members were on a security operation when a coalition jet, called in to help ward off a Taliban attack, mistakenly bombed them, CNN reported. The deaths occurred in the Zabul Province in southern Afghanistan.
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement Tuesday investigators were looking into “the likelihood that friendly fire was the cause.”
“Tragically, there is the possibility that fratricide may have been involved,” Kirby said. “Our thoughts are with the families of those killed during this difficult time.”
Bachmann called Studenmund a “brave, virtuous patriot.”
“Please hold him fast in your memories, and hold the family fast in your hearts,” the headmaster wrote.
Studenmund played football at Flintridge Prep. In a 2013 alumni magazine story about the school’s football team, he said the sport “takes heart.”
“You learn to dig down deep. Football accesses your inner core, and it ignites your warrior spirit. You learn that, if necessary, you have to act aggressively to get what you want,” Studenmund said.
Studenmund’s sister Connell was a 2012 graduate of Flintridge Prep.
Studenmund’s father is Woody Studenmund, an economics professor at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, according to the school’s graduation publication from 2012.
-- Melissa Pamer, KTLA
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