Utah mayor and Army National Guard, Brent Taylor has been killed. The Associated Press reported he was killed in Afghanistan over the weekend. He was 39.
Taylor was deployed to the Middle East and had taken a leave of absence from his role as a mayor of North Ogden's for a year and was expected to return in January 2019.
Officials confirmed on Saturday that the military intelligence officer was fatally shot by one of the local Afghans he was training, who shot him by a small arms fire. The attacker was later killed by Afghan forces.
Following the news of the mayor revealed, the Utah Governor Gary Herbert released a statement saying they were heartbroken. He also applauded Taylor's leadership, patriotism, and bravery.
Heartbroken that we lost one of our own today. @UTNationalGuard pic.twitter.com/SHFf5qmACU
— Gov. Gary Herbert (@GovHerbert) November 4, 2018
Taylor was serving as a Utah mayor since 2013 and he served two tours in Iraq. This was his second tour in Afghanistan.
Taylor is survived by his wife Jennie and their seven children: Megan, 13, Lincoln, 11, Alex, 9, Jacob 7, Ellie, 5, Jonathan, 2, and 11-month-old child Caroline.
