A recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy killed by the shooter at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida is being hailed a hero for helping authorities stop the attack on Friday.
Gravely wounded, Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23, was able to give a description of the shooter to first responders, which helped them confront him and end the deadly mass shooting. “Joshua Kaleb Watson saved countless lives today with his own,” his brother Adam said, according to the Pensacola News Journal. “After being shot multiple times, he made it outside and told the first response team where the shooter was, and those details were invaluable. He died a hero, and we are beyond proud, but there is a hole in our hearts that can never be filled.”
Watson’s father, Benjamin, said his son had aspirations of becoming a Navy pilot and had been in Pensacola for about a month following his graduation from the Naval Academy. He said that terrorist attacks and Watson’s late uncle had been an inspiration for his son’s military career. “Kaleb was starting grade school when Sept. 11 happened,” he said. “His uncle, Richard Lindsay, was a former Marine who served in [Operation] Desert Storm.”
Recalling his son’s heroic actions on Friday morning, Benjamin Watson described his final moments: “Heavily wounded, he made his way out to flag down first responders and gave an accurate description of the shooter. He died serving his country.” Watson said that his son had been shot at least five times in the attack. Watson and seven others were transported to the hospital, but he later died from his wounds.
Four people were killed in the mass shooting, including Watson and the gunman, Saudi aviation student Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. A member of the Royal Saudi Air Force, Alshamrani opened fire Friday morning with a handgun in an NAS classroom, killing two and wounding seven others, including two law enforcement officers that engaged with him before he was shot to death. Six other Saudi nationals, including three who were filming the incident as it unfolded, were detained by law enforcement in connection with the shooting.
