Seaman Apprentice Albert Lee Soto, 18, was fatally shot Aug. 31, 2024, following a late-night altercation in San Diego, local police said. Soto was an operations specialist on the destroyer USS Pinckney, according to the Navy.  (U.S. Army Reserve photo)

A junior Navy sailor was fatally shot following a late-night altercation in a San Diego neighborhood, police announced Wednesday.

Albert Lee Soto, 18, was an operations specialist seaman apprentice, according to his service records. The sailor was assigned since April to the Arleigh Burke-class, guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney, which is homeported at Naval Base San Diego. Soto, a native of New York, had been in the Navy for less than a year.

The San Diego Police Department responded at about 12:50 a.m. on Aug. 31 to a report of multiple gunshots in the area of 9th Street and F Street in the East Village neighborhood. Soto was found on the ground suffering from at least one gunshot wound.

“CPR was administered at the scene and the man was transported to a local hospital, but unfortunately, he did not survive,” police said.

Four men are suspected of the shooting, police said. The men, wearing mostly dark clothing, were spotted running in the area of the shooting.

According to a preliminary investigation, Soto was involved in an altercation with a group of men inside a local nightclub several blocks away prior to the shooting. Detectives are working to determine whether the two altercations are related. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the San Diego Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

In the days following the shooting, local media reported a vigil was held for Soto. Those gathered arranged candles, flowers and personal items including a bandana and a basketball on the ground to spell out the sailor’s nickname, “AB.”

“You always saw a smile on his face, wherever he went … He loved everybody. He didn’t deserve this,” Vania Watson, a friend of the victim, told FOX 5/KUSI.