TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) - An American chemistry teacher was shot to death as he was jogging in Benghazi on Thursday, highlighting persistently tenuous security in the eastern Libyan city where the U.S. ambassador was killed last year.
There were no credible claims of responsibility, but suspicion was likely to fall on Islamic militants active in Benghazi. It came five days after al-Qaida's American spokesman called upon Libyans to attack U.S. interests everywhere as revenge for U.S. special forces snatching an al-Qaida suspect off the streets of Tripoli in October and whisking him out of the country.
The U.S. State Department identified the teacher as Ronald Thomas Smith II. The State Department did not provide Smith's hometown, and it was not possible to immediately confirm a statement from a Libyan official that he was from Texas. The University of Texas in Austin said he graduated from the school in 2006 with a master's degree in chemistry.
Smith taught chemistry at Benghazi's International School, a Libyan-owned facility that follows a British curriculum.
The Austin, Texas church he attended with his wife, Anita, and their son said Smith had been teaching at the Benghazi school for the last year and a half.
The Austin Stone community church said Smith had planned to be home for Christmas.
"Anita and their son had returned to the U.S. and are safe with family. Ronnie, out of a sense of dedication, had stayed in Libya to be with his students through their midterm exams," Daphne Bamburg, the executive pastor of operations at the church said in an email. "Ronnie's greatest desire was for peace and prosperity in Libya and for the people of Libya to have the joy of knowing God through Christ."
The school posted condolences on its Facebook page. "He was a much loved teacher who supported students in their learning and always had time to help when asked," it said. "Ronnie was a professional who gave his time freely and without question. We do not understand why this has happened and it is extremely difficult for his students and his colleagues to accept."
A family member who answered the door at a home in Warren, Mich., on Thursday said she had no comment and asked an Associated Press reporter to leave the property.
A Libyan security official, Ibrahim al-Sharaa, said Smith was shot while jogging near the compound where U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed by Islamic militants in September 2012.
Adel al-Mansouri, the International School's chairman of the board, told the AP by telephone from Benghazi that Smith jogged every day in Benghazi "without fear" and was very popular among the students. He said Smith had been with the school for just over a year.
He said the school, which has 650 pupils ages 4 to 18, had not received any threats because of its Western teachers.