IT2 Mario G. Maestas.

FORT SMITH, Ark. July 4 —
A Navy SEAL was hit and killed by live ammunition during an exercise at Fort Chaffee, military officials said Friday.

Mario G. Maestas, 22, was hit at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday and died en route to a hospital. A native of Louisville, Colo., Maestas had been stationed with a unit in Virginia Beach, Va., said Lt. John Perkins, a Navy SEAL spokesman.


Training at the base has been suspended while the accident is investigated, according to Michael Hardy with the Military Police at the post.

"We're always saddened when any member of the military is (killed) in the line of duty," Hardy said.

The Fort Chaffee Army post is just east of the city of Fort Smith in western Arkansas.