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Navy SEAL killed by ISIS had ties to Arizona

Posted at 12:56 PM, May 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-03 21:04:56-04

A Navy SEAL killed in an ISIS attack Tuesday morning went to high school in the Valley.

Family members tell ABC15 Charlie Keating died in in an attack 17 miles north of Mosul, Iraq, a city controlled by ISIS fighters

Keating graduated from Arcadia High School in 2004, is the grandson of Arizona businessman Charles Keating and cousin of Arizona Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Jr.

Keating was advising Kurdish Peshmerga forces and reportedly two or three miles behind the front lines before the attack was launched.

Officials said ISIS forces used truck bombs to penetrate the front lines, and the SEAL's position was attacked with small-arms fire.

Just a few days ago, the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group's deployment was extended by one month in an effort to continue putting pressure on ISIS.

U.S. and coalition forces launched an intense air attack, with American fighter jets and drones blasting ISIS targets with about two dozen bombs.

During his youth in Arizona, Keating was a champion long-distance runner for Arcadia. He then attended the Naval Academy before becoming a Navy Seal based out of Coronado, California.

Keating had been engaged to be married in November.