( CNN ) -- The FBI is investigating the death in Mexico of a man who was a U.S. service member , an agency spokesman said Thursday . Jose Gil Hernandez Ramirez was killed Wednesday in Ciudad Juarez . Hernandez was a member of the Texas National Guard , officials said Thursday . Hernandez , a private first class , was a fire direction sensor specialist assigned to Headquarters Battery 3rd Battalion , 133 Field Artillery , the National Guard said . The El Paso , Texas , resident , 22 , had been in the Guard since 2007 . `` The Texas National Guard family has lost a friend and fellow soldier and he will be missed , but more importantly the soldier 's family mourns the loss of a loved one , '' the Guard said in a statement . `` At this time there is no more important and honored duty than to surround the family with our love , and support them through this very difficult time . '' Hernandez was a student during the week and reported for National Guard duty on weekends and annual training . The FBI is working closely with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command , said FBI spokesman Michael Martinez , who is based in El Paso , Texas . Hernandez was killed during a drive-by shooting , according to the Chihuahua Attorney General 's office . Ciudad Juarez is in the Mexican state of Chihuahua and shares a border with El Paso . Juarez is Mexico 's bloodiest city , with more than 2,500 drug-related deaths reported this year . Nationwide , more than 28,000 people have died in drug violence since December 2006 , when President Felipe Calderon took office and started his stepped-up campaign against organized crime . Because of the violence , Juarez is considered off-limits for the U.S. military . A memorandum at Fort Bliss in Texas prohibits soldiers from traveling into Chihuahua . In November , a member of the U.S. Air Force was among six people killed when gunmen entered a strip club in Ciudad Juarez and opened fire . Hernandez was standing on the street by a car when he was shot by gunmen about 1 p.m. , Mexican authorities said . A second person , Rafael Ramirez Reza , 22 , originally from Juarez , was also killed , said Carlos Gonzalez , spokesman for the Chihuahua Attorney General 's office . A third person who was not identified was injured in the shooting , Gonzalez said . A local newspaper , El Diario , said Ramirez was negotiating a car sale when he was shot . CNN 's Nick Valencia contributed to this report .
NEW : National Guard confirms the victim was one of theirs . The decades - old man was killed in the border city of Ciudad Juarez . Service members are told to stay away from the border city .