U.S. Ambassador Killed in Libya Grew Up in California

U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, who was killed Tuesday during an atttack at the embassy in Libya, grew up in California, according to his official government biography.

Stevens was one of four American officials killed during the attack, which authorities believe may have been planned and executed using simultaneous protests in Cairo as a cover, according to a New York Times report.

The slain ambassador was born and raised in Northern California, graduating from UC Berkeley in 1982 and receiving his J.D. from the UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco in 1989. He began his career in the Foreign Service in 1991 and had been the ambassador to Libya since May 2012, helping build relations after the fall and death of the country’s leader, Moammar Gadhafi, according to a U.S. Department of State biography.

In remarks Wednesday, President Barack Obama said Libyan security personnel helped Americans fight back against the attackers and carried Stevens’ body to a hospital.

“It’s especially tragic that Chris Stevens died in Benghazi because it is a city that he helped to save,” Obama said. “With characteristic skill, courage and resolve, he built partnerships with Libyan revolutionaries, and helped them as they planned to build a new Libya. When the Qaddafi regime came to an end, Chris was there to serve as our ambassador to the new Libya, and he worked tirelessly to support this young democracy.

“He was a role model to all who worked with him and to the young diplomats who aspire to walk in his footsteps.”