Soldier shot outside nightclub was being 'good buddy' for friends

Fayetteville, N.C. — Fayetteville investigators say they have only vague descriptions of an assailant wanted in the shooting of a Fort Bragg soldier who happened upon a robbery Saturday night.

Sergio Sanchez, 22, a member of the 82nd Airborne's 2nd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Bragg, had stepped out of Sharky's Cabaret at Blue Street and Washington Drive at about 3 a.m. Saturday to make a phone call when he came across several men robbing people.

Police said that one of the robbers shot Sanchez in the neck. It was not clear whether he was trying to stop the robbery.

A computer-repair technician from Anniston, Ala., Sanchez returned to Fort Bragg earlier this year after a 15-month tour of duty in Iraq.

Maj. Tom Earnhardt, a spokesman for the 82nd Airborne, said Sanchez was a designated driver for a group of friends that night.

"He was just being a good buddy," Earnhardt said.

Sanchez is in critical condition at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

Investigators ask that anyone with information about the shooting to call police at 910-433-1856 or Crime Stoppers at 910-483-8477.