WEST JORDAN, Utah (ABC 4 News) - The family of a U.S. Army soldier from West Jordan says he was killed in the Fort Hood shootings on Thursday.
19-year-old Aaron Nemelka was identified as one of the 13 victims killed during a shooting spree on the Texas base.
His parents, Michael and Tina Nemelka of West Jordan spoke to members of the media on Friday, outside their home which was decorated with several U.S. flags on the lawn.
They got word of their son's death Thursday night. They also found out Aaron was one of the first people killed in the shootings.
Aaron is the youngest of the 4 Nemelka children, with 2 brothers and a sister.
Private Nemelka was 19 years old and joined the Army in October of 2008. He belonged to the 5/10th Engineering Company, 20th Infantry Battalion, 36th Engineering Brigade.
Nemelka's grandfather, also named Michael is a former Marine, and told ABC 4 the news of Aaron's death is hard to take.
"He was a nice kid," said Nemelka.
Private Nemelka was at Fort Hood awaiting deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.
He attended Jordan High School.
