A Chicago man was fatally shot after he came to the aid of a woman who was being mugged by armed men in the Bahamas over the weekend.

Kyle Bruner, 34, was shot in the neck in Nassau early Sunday according to the Associated Press. He was reportedly trying to help a woman who was being mugged for her jewelry by three men.

Bruner, a sailor, had been working as first mate on the Liberty Chipper sailboat that was passing through the Bahamas and had been docked at Nassau at the time of the shooting.

Bruner’s parents call Chicago’s Northwest Side home and told ABC Chicago that their son was a gifted musician and athlete but that the former special education teacher’s heart ultimately belonged to the sea. They received the news of his death on Mother’s Day morning.

His father, Rick Bruner, told the Chicago Tribune that helping others and standing up to bullies was something that came naturally to Kyle, who also served as an artilleryman in the Indiana Army National Guard prior to his move to Chicago.

“Maybe we wish he had walked away from” it, Rick told the Tribune. “But if he had, he wouldn’t have been the person we know.”

“It’s always better to say ‘I did’ than ‘I could have,’ and his life was short, but he did,” Rick added to NBC Chicago.

One person is reportedly in custody in the shooting as of Monday afternoon.

Read more: Huffington Post