Decorated ex-British soldier gunned down while returning to ship at night

Satyan Dave was shot dead close to a park near the Port of Oakland in California (Image: Gun Memorial ) A British maritime security guard has been shot dead in California as he made his way back to his ship after a night out. Satyan Dave, from Hendon, London, was gunned down at about 5am on Thursday near the Port of Oakland in the Golden State. The 49-year-old father-of-two had only hours earlier arrived in the city aboard a contained ship that had traveled close to Somalia where ‘pirates’ are known to operate. Authorities said Dave, who used to run his own security business, was a contract employee for a shipping company with offices in Oakland. It is thought Satyan, who is originally from South Africa, had been out to dinner before making his way back to his ship berthed in the port. He had only hours before arrived in the city aboard a container ship that had travelled near Somalia (Image: Gun Memorial ) Police in the violence plagued city said he was shot dead close to International Boulevard, one of East Oakland’s main throughfares. A spokesman for Oakland Police Department said they are still trying to establish why he was in the area in the early hours of the morning and have been interviewing his colleagues. On Monday, police were trying to determine Dave’s last known movements, but he may have gone out to another nearby city for food, authorities said. His death has stunned former members of his regiment, The Royal Green Jackets (Image: Gun Memorial ) His death is said to have stunned former members of his former regiment, The Royal Green Jackets. Dave served as a rifleman for six years before re-training as an audio-visual technician, where he worked for the bank Credit-Suisse. A friend from his former regiment added: “Satyan worked mostly on ships that travelled around Somalia where pirates try hijacking the ships. “We were not in close contact, but others in regiment have been talking and its terrible news. ‘You just don’t expect to hear about someone from Britain getting shot in America. ‘He used to let us know what ship he was on, so we could track him, but we didn’t know this time. Most of the time the ships he was contracted to sailed around Somalia where the pirates were in operation.’ His friends said he was divorced with two children. Follow our social media accounts here on facebook.com/ExpressUSNews and @expressusnews