James Salter

A 24-year-old man fatally shot Monday in Myrtle Beach was an Army veteran, National Guardsman and a college student who hoped for a career in law enforcement, according to his father, a trooper with the S.C. Highway Patrol.

James Salter died at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center after he was shot in the parking lot of Best Buy, authorities said.

An autopsy revealed that Salter died from a bullet wound, but Coroner Robert Edge refused to release any more details.

"We are not prepared to talk about the number or the location [of bullet wounds]," he said.

Police on Tuesday did not say what led to the shooting. No one was charged as of late Tuesday, but police said they recovered a sedan they sought in connection with the incident. A citizen reported seeing it on the south end of Myrtle Beach, police said.

No other details about the shooting were released Tuesday, and the incident was not recorded on surveillance cameras.

Best Buy has no security officers or cameras in the store's parking lot, but Myrtle Beach police officers sometimes patrol the store's lot, officials said.

Monday's shooting happened around 7:30 p.m.

A Columbia woman who stopped to offer Salter assistance after she found him shot in his car said her heart goes out to his family.

"I looked into the passenger-side window. He had his keys in his hand," said Katie Nash. "We could see that he was so pale. Something was definitely wrong."

Nash said she, her daughters and some friends are in town for spring break. Nash said she called 911 after finding Salter.

She learned Tuesday he died at the hospital.

Salter's family spent Tuesday remembering the good times.

"Probably my proudest moment was being able to be at his graduation from basic training at Fort Benning [Ga.]," Richard Salter said. "My father was there. It was really neat having all three of us there."

James Salter followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who both served in the military, and joined the Army after graduating from high school in 2001. After serving two years at Fort Hood [Texas], he moved to Carolina Forest with his father, who had since ended his time in the military.

Salter used his military scholarships to enroll at Coastal Carolina University in the fall of 2004, his father said. He was a student at the school through last fall but wasn't enrolled this semester, university spokeswoman Anne Monk said.

He did not graduate and was classified as a junior, she said.

After moving to the area, Salter joined the Myrtle Beach National Guard.

He served in the Guard since 2001, S.C. National Guard spokesman Pete Brooks said.

Salter took this semester off because he was focused on his work with the National Guard, his father said.

He was majoring in sociology and minoring in psychology at Coastal Carolina University, with the long-term goal of serving in federal law enforcement.

His main love away from work was sports.

"He loved sports," said Richard Salter, who serves the Highway Patrol along the Grand Strand. "That's what he mainly did - shooting hoops and playing ball and watching games. He loved sports."