A Texas man who narrowly avoided being in the World Trade Center during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 was killed in a terrorist attack in Kenya this week.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Jason Spindler, 40, died Tuesday in an attack on a hotel and shopping complex in Kenya’s capitol of Nairobi by gunmen believed to be affiliated with Al Shabab, a Somalian terrorist group.
{mosads}Spindler had avoided the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 when he was late for work in the World Trade Center on the morning of the attacks, according to the Chronicle.
A Facebook post from Spindler’s brother confirmed his death, and his previous brush with terrorism.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I have to report that my brother, Jason Spindler passed away this morning during a terror attack in Nairobi, Kenya. Jason was a survivor of 9-11 and a fighter. I am sure he gave them hell!” Jonathan Spindler wrote, according to the Chronicle.
Kenyan officials say 21 people including Spindler were killed in the attack, which Kenya’s president called a “senseless” act of violence.
“We are grieving as a country this morning, and my heart and the heart of every Kenyan goes out to the innocent men and women violated by senseless violence,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said Wednesday morning.
The attack took place in Nairobi’s DusitD2 hotel complex, a popular tourism spot in the city frequented by foreigners.