Soldier praised as hero after El Paso mass shooting is found dead at Fort Bliss

FORT BLISS, Texas -- A 23-year-old Fort Bliss soldier, credited with helping save children during El Paso’s Aug. 3 mass shooting before later being arrested for military desertion, has been found dead on the Army post.

Fort Bliss officials on Friday confirmed the death of Pfc. Glendon Oakley in a statement saying "the soldier was found deceased in his on-post quarters on April 8," but they could provide no further details.

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command was looking into Oakley's death, but officials indicated that "foul play is not suspected."

Oakley was as an automated logistical specialist stationed at Fort Bliss.

He gained notoriety in the aftermath of the Aug. 3 mass shooting. Oakley told ABC-7 that when shots rang out at Walmart, he grabbed as many children as possible at the nearby Cielo Vista Mall to get them away from the gunfire.

"What I did was exactly what I was supposed to do. I understand it was heroic and I'm looked at as a hero for it, but that wasn't the reason for me,” he said at the time. "I'm just focused on the kids that I could not [save] and the families. It hurts me. I feel like they were a part of me. I don't even know the people that died or the kids that I took with me."

He had credited his military training as the reason he immediately sprung into action during the shooting, which left dozens dead. El Paso police said Oakley's story of heroism couldn't be either verified or discounted.

Oakley would later be arrested in October in his hometown of Killeen, Texas for military desertion and returned to Fort Bliss.