Broken Romance Writes Tragic End to Bright Future : Violence: Friends and family of officer are shocked by murders and his suicide.

A yearbook picture of a beaming George Patrick Smith, voted “best all around” by Marina High School’s class of 1987, brought back a flood of memories Thursday for Smith’s best friend, Todd Destatte.

“Just look here,” Destatte said, pointing to a page in the dusty yearbook. “He had the brightest future of anybody.”

That future came to a tragic end Wednesday morning when Smith, a 24-year-old Navy ensign from Huntington Beach, reportedly stormed into the bachelor officers quarters at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado and shot to death Lt. Alton Lee Grizzard and Ensign Kerryn (Kerry) O’Neill, who had once been Smith’s fiancee. Then Smith killed himself.

Coronado police said the slayings were apparently triggered by a broken romance between Smith and O’Neill, who met while attending the U.S. Naval Academy.

Grizzard, who also attended the academy and was a star quarterback on its football team, apparently was not romantically involved with O’Neill. He simply happened to be in her room at the base when the 1:45 a.m. shootings occurred, police said.

News of the shootings came as a shock to family and friends.

“He was the all-American boy and he was loved by everyone,” said Destatte, 25, who last saw Smith 10 days ago. “I want everyone to know about that side of George Smith. He loved Kerry so much. It sounds like he just snapped.”

Smith and O’Neill had planned to be married until she recently decided to break off their engagement, said Smith’s younger brother, Lawrence, 23, a Navy petty officer 2nd class.

Lawrence Smith said his brother had given O’Neill a diamond engagement ring and the two had talked of buying a home and starting a family.

But the couple had broken their engagement several times and a wedding date had been set and broken. O’Neill apparently started dating others when she was stationed in Coronado and Smith was attending nuclear power school in Orlando, Fla., Lawrence Smith said.

The shooting was “100% out of character for George,” said Bruce C. Schmidt, a longtime friend of Smith who attended Catholic grade school with him at St. Bonaventure in Huntington Beach, and later played with him on the high school football team.

“He was so even-keeled,” Schmidt said. “It’s an incredible shock.”

Friends said Smith came from a close, religious family that included three sisters. His mother, Lorraine J. Smith, 53, declined to comment from her Huntington Beach home. His father, George, died of a stroke in 1988 at age 45. The elder Smith had also served in the Navy.

Coronado Police Lt. Bill Abel said Smith’s roommates at a rented house in the Point Loma neighborhood of San Diego told detectives they had seen Smith at his desk writing a letter in the hours before the shooting.

The letter, addressed to O’Neill, was found half-finished and torn up on the floor of Smith’s room.

Abel said it mentions regret over the breakup of the couple’s engagement, but makes no mention that Smith was planning a murder-suicide.

Nearby, police found several rounds of ammunition.

Times staff writers Lily Dizon and Mark Pinsky contributed to this report.