Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Military

Camp Pendleton Marine Lured To His Death By Afghan Police (Video)

View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.

Camp Pendleton Marine Capt. Matt Manoukian, 29, was one of three Special Forces Marines lured to their deaths by an Afghan police officer who had invited the men to dinner.

The murders took place in the Sangin district of Helmand Province. The district chief, Mohammad Sharif, told the Associated Press:

[T]he shooting happened at a police checkpoint after a joint meal and a security meeting. The meal took place before dawn because of Ramadan, the month in which abstain from food during daylight hours.

Manoukian grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area enclave of Los Altos Hills. NBCBayArea.com reports he was the son of Santa Clara County Judge Socrates "Pete" Manoukian, and state appellate court Associate Justice Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian.

Advertisement

Judge Manoukian told the San Jose Mercury-News his son planned to attend Golden Gate Law School, where he'd already been accepted, when he left the Marines at year's end.

Despite his tragic death, Judget Manoukian - himself a Lebanese immigrant - believes his son's contributions will be felt for years to come:

"He managed to learn Arabic and worked on opening up a school and setting up a police station and got a courthouse running with some of his people. He even taught little kids to play baseball after one of our friends sent baseballs and bats.

"Who knows, one of these days, maybe little Abdul will be the leadoff batter for the Giants because of Matt."