Joseph D. Alomar dies of gunshot wound to head in 'non-combat' incident

NEW YORK -- The family of a sailor from Brooklyn who died in Iraq wants to know more about what happened.

The Defense Department says Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph D. Alomar died in a "noncombat-related incident" on Thursday. He was serving at Camp Bucca, a U.S.-run detention center in southern Iraq.

Alomar, 22, was assigned to a military police unit.

Defense officials said Alomar's death was "not the result of hostile action but occurred in a hostile fire zone." They did not elaborate. The death is under investigation.

Alomar's mother, Aileen Encarnacion, told the New York Post that the family learned that her son was found with a bullet in his head.

More than 3,000 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

From WNBC 4