Malcolm Kerr Death: How Did Steve Kerr’s Dad Die?

Malcolm Kerr was shot and killed outside his office by two gunmen on January 18, 1984, signalling yet another probable attack on the US in Lebanon. He was shot twice in the back of the head by shooters with silenced handguns.

The Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility for his death. Years later, the identities of Kerr’s killers and their motivations remain unknown.

His death was such a big deal that it even drew a statement from Ronald Reagan, the US president at the time.

Malcolm Kerr was the president of the American University of Beirut and a university professor specialising in Middle Eastern and Arab studies.

It was the middle of the Lebanese Civil War when he started serving in the latter post in 1982. It was particularly dangerous to be an American citizen living there at the time, as evidenced by two consecutive bombs at the nearby US Embassy.