U.S. ambassador killed after chaotic, hours-long siege

Gunfire, a burning building, "heavy, dark smoke" that separated Chris Stevens, the late U.S. ambassador to Libya, from a security officer: American officials painted a harrowing picture late Wednesday of the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that left the widely respected diplomat and three others dead. The officials, speaking to reporters on a conference call arranged by the State Department, shared what they readily acknowledged were incomplete details subject to change as a clearer picture emerges from the bloody raid.

The early details sketch out a chaotic situation in which apparently outgunned U.S. and Libyan security personnel fought for hours to retake the diplomatic compound in the eastern Libyan city from unknown gunmen and lost the ambassador. The account was provided to reporters on the condition that the officials giving it not be identified.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens Killed in Consulate Attack in Benghazi

The U.S.ambassador to Libya,Christopher Stevens, was killed when Libyan militants stormed the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
Stevens, 52, died on Tuesday as 20 gun-wielding attackers stormed the U.S. consulate, angry about an American-made movie that depicted Prophet Mohammad as a fraud and a womanizer. The attackers fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades at the consulate, Deputy Interior Minister Wanis al-Sharif told a news conference in Benghazi.