Military authorities said Tuesday they are continuing to investigate the death of a Camp Pendleton Marine killed last week in Afghanistan. Lance Cpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt, 24, of San Antonio, Texas, died Thursday in combat in Helmand Province, the Pentagon announced.

Schmidt, a Marine sniper, was shot in the head, his family reported.

Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt, 24, of San Antonio. Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt, 24, of San Antonio.

No details regarding the circumstances of his death will be released while the investigation is pending, said Maj. Bradley Gordon, a spokesman in Helmand province for Task Force Leatherneck.

“We do everything we can to review any and all serious reportable incidents in order to see if there are things that we as a service and/or coalition force can do differently to protect our force from any future incidents,” Gordon said, in an email.

Schmidt deployed to Afghanistan in September with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. The battalion is assigned to the combative northern region of Helmand Province, in Musa Qalah and Now Zad districts.

He is the son of David Schmidt, an orthopedic surgeon and team physician for the San Antonio Spurs basketball team, and Becky Whetstone, Ph.D., a marriage and family therapist and former newspaper columnist.

Schmidt enlisted in the Marines about four years ago after dropping out of college, to the surprise and anger of his mother.

“He loved his buddies in the Marines and he would have done anything for them,” Whetstone said. But her son returned from a previous tour to Afghanistan disillusioned with the Marine Corps and the war, she added.

After a friend lost a leg in combat, Schmidt became furious with his superiors, whom he blamed for needlessly putting Marines in danger, Whetstone said. He also felt the Marines had to operate on the battlefield under too many restrictions that limited their ability to defend themselves, she said.

“He didn’t believe in war anymore,” she said. “There are people who die for their country who aren’t necessarily believing in the cause. They’re doing their job because they committed to doing their job and they are seeing it through.”

On his Facebook page, Schmidt wrote on Sept. 11th: “I guess you can use today as a reason for us to be here in Afghanistan. Just know I’m fighting for myself, but most of all for all my friends and family who read this. Everyone, it’s an honor to be your ambassador.”

Schmidt will be buried in his hometown Friday at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, as he had requested.