Kaila White

The Republic | azcentral.com

Dustin Shirk, a former U.S. Marine, wanted to rejoin the service and was exercising when he was shot dead in a west Phoenix park last week. according to family members.

Several people called police to report gunshots at Cielito Park just south of Grand Canyon University about 12:45 a.m. July 26, according to Phoenix police. Officers found Shirk on the ground, shot multiple times.

Shirk worked night shifts at UPS and was regularly running at and near the park because he wanted to get in shape to rejoin the Marines, said Shirk's mother, Cindy Hamblen-Shirk.

"Dustin was a private person," she said. "He would be in dread knowing there’s all this exposure, but I want that killer caught."

Anyone with information about the shooting can contact Phoenix police at 602-262-6151 or Silent Witness at 480-948-6377.

A ceremony to honor Shirk by lighting candles and blowing bubbles is tentatively scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9, which would have been Shirk's 31st birthday. The public is welcome and encouraged to bring their own bubbles.

The family is also tentatively planning a private wake Aug. 10 and burial at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in north Phoenix on Aug. 11.

Losing 'the man of the family'

Shirk was the oldest of seven children – the youngest is now 17 – and "the man of the family," Hamblen-Shirk said. The two of them were the workhorses supporting the others, she said.

When Shirk was in elementary school in Tempe, Hamblen-Shirk would give him cooking lessons that she called "bachelor survival," which he loved. He would wake up extremely early and take his younger brother to school, sometimes arriving even before the teachers.

"That pretty much was him as far as life goes. He’s really been self-motivated and self-disciplined," she said. "I couldn’t ask for a better role model for the rest of the kids."

The family moved near Alhambra High School in Phoenix and he played football for Alhambra's team, but chose to attend Bostrom High School because he liked the regimented structure, Hamblen-Shirk said.

There, he got straight As and even helped teach his mother math for her medical-assistant class, she said. He got a job at UPS, where he was still working when he was killed.

Shirk bought a house a mile away from his mother in a neighborhood near Cielito Park, and was saving money and "really trying to build a life and have a foundation" at the time of his death, she said.

Deployment with the Marines

Shirk served from 2005 to 2009, most recently as a corporal, according to information from the Marines.

He was a bulk-fuel specialist and was deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom on board the USS Iwo Jima from 2008 to 2009, according to the Marines. Hamblen-Shirk said he served primarily in Iraq.

He won multiple awards, including the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. The type and character of his discharge is not releasable, according to the Marines.

A cousin remembers Shirk's honesty, thoughtfulness

Kelda Sweeney, Shirk’s second cousin who said she spent a lot of time with him when he was a child, said he was honest, trustworthy, thoughtful and very quiet – “never spoke unless he had something to say."

“Dustin was genuine,” she messaged the reporter on Twitter. “You never had to second-guess him. If he said it, he meant it. Never had to worry about him."

“He didn't ever want the focus to be on him. He wanted to help people, but never wanted awards,” a description she said would still fit him today.

One Thanksgiving when Shirk was little, he refused to go outside to play in the backyard, she said. After a long time, he went up to Sweeney and asked about “the bear.”

The Sweeney family’s big, black dog was sleeping near the back door, and he didn’t want to walk past what he thought was a bear to get outside.

“He didn't want to complain to the grown-ups or show he was scared,” Sweeney said. “That, to me, is a bit like how he was as a grown man. He would really debate on mentioning things until he really knew he needed help."

Overwhelming cost to his family

Hamblen-Shirk's best friend created a GoFundMe for the family, which has raised more than $3,000. His funeral will cost at least $5,000, Hamblen-Shirk estimates, plus her lost wages.

"A lot of people think everything is paid for by the VA cause he’s a veteran. Absolutely not – by no stretch of the imagination is everything paid for," Hamblen-Shirk said.

Department of Veteran's Affairs policy dictates Hamblen-Shirk will receive a $300 burial allowance and $747 for a plot.

"There’s a lot of things really bearing down on me that I need to pay and I don’t have that kind of money saved up at all. I’m living week to week, paycheck to paycheck, so anything of help would be just a godsend.

"He would never have done anything to anybody to deserve this," she said. "I still don’t understand. That’s really trying on me. Not to know exactly what happened or why."

Police ID man found dead in shooting at Phoenix park