James Noel Zamora, an 18-year-old from Oxnard, California, died on November 5, 2020, while participating in basic combat training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. He was an active duty soldier assigned to Company D, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment. An incident on a rifle range that day led to a fatal injury; emergency medical services took him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Fort Jackson officials ordered a 36-hour training stand-down for the unit and offered trainees the chance to contact family. Special agents from the Fort Stewart Criminal Investigation Division opened an investigation. Early statements described no indication of foul play and characterized the event as a tragic training accident; the investigation continued to determine the exact cause. No other trainees were physically harmed, and there were no reports of arrests or suspects. His body was returned to his family in Oxnard for funeral and military honors.

If anyone was at Fort Jackson on November 5, 2020, or has information about the rifle range incident, please share what you know.