Mayor was shot dead by Afghan trainee

NORTH OGDEN, Utah — The Utah mayor fatally shot in an insider attack in Afghanistan was targeted by one of his trainees, officials said Sunday.

Brent Taylor, 39, a Utah Army National Guard major, had taken a yearlong leave of absence as mayor of North Ogden for his deployment to Afghanistan.

Taylor was a military intelligence officer with Joint Force Headquarters and was expected to return to his mayoral job in January. Another U.S. military member whose name was not immediately made public was wounded in Saturday’s attack that killed Taylor, who died from wounds from small arms fire, military officials said.

Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton, the adjutant general of the Utah National Guard, said Taylor’s mission was to help train and build the capacity of the Afghan national army.

“He was with folks he was helping and training. That’s what’s so painful about this. It’s bitter,” Burton said. “I do believe that Maj. Taylor felt he was among friends, with people he was working with.”

Utah media outlets cited a statement from NATO saying that Taylor was shot by one of the commandos being trained and that the attacker was killed by Afghan forces.

Taylor leaves behind a wife and seven children. His remains are scheduled to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Monday evening.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Taylor “was there to help. He was a leader. He loved the people of Afghanistan . ... This is a sad day for Utah, for America.”

Taylor served two tours in Iraq and was on his second tour in Afghanistan.