A KC-135 refueling aircraft flies over the Dale Mabry entrance of Macdill Air Force Base, Fla., while coming in for a landing in January 2021 in Tampa. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via TNS)
A Marine was fatally struck by a vehicle while he was running along a road early Tuesday on MacDill Air Force Base, officials at the Florida base said Friday.
Cpl. Jack Cody was pronounced dead at Tampa General Hospital where he was rushed after being hit at about 7:15 a.m., according to an Air Force base release. Cody was a member of the Marine’s 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, a Reserve unit based in south Tampa, near MacDill.
Base officials said the incident was under investigation and provided few details, including whether the vehicle’s driver had been arrested or was expected to face charges.
Marine leaders described Cody as well-liked in his unit and a top performing Marine.
“Cpl. Jack Cody was the heartbeat of the platoon,” Marine Chief Warrant Officer 4 Joshua Riddle, the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion’s maintenance officer, said in a statement. “He was a Marine through and through, he was a professional in everything he did, enjoyed the outdoors, and would make everyone laugh.”
Cody was the second service member struck and killed by a vehicle while out running this year. In January, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Richard Padilla, a security forces craftsman with the 24th Rapid Deployment Squadron of the 24th Special Operations Wing, died when he was struck by a vehicle about one mile from MacDill.
In that incident, Tampa police said a man intentionally struck Padilla and others with his vehicle in a road rage incident that culminated with the suspect being shot and killed by police.
