ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
We're following breaking news out of Turkey at this hour. There are conflicting reports of an attempted uprising from within the military. We will bring you more details this evening as we learn them. First, in his condemnation of the terror attacks in Nice earlier today, President Obama noted the deaths of father and son from Texas. And he expressed his condolences. 51-year-old Sean Copeland and 11-year-old Brody Copeland were on a European vacation with their family.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BARACK OBAMA: They need all the love and support from our American family as they grapple with an unimaginable loss.
SHAPIRO: Mose Buchele of member station KUT in Austin has been talking with friends of the two American victims.
MOSE BUCHELE, BYLINE: The immediate Copeland family from the suburban Austin community of Lakeway was traveling in Europe in part to celebrate the birthday of Sean's wife and Brodie's mom who turns 40 on Monday. It started off with a trip to Pamplona, Spain, where Mr. Copeland, Sean and an older son had run with the bulls.
JASON DIXON: 51-years-old and he's down there running with the bulls. That's Sean Copeland.
BUCHELE: Jason Dixon is a family friend who coached peewee league football with Sean. Dixon says he'll remember him as competitive and good-natured.
DIXON: Whenever you walked up, Sean always had either - he was either laughing or had a smile on his face. And there was a moment that he was - it wasn't too long after that that he'd say something and everybody would bust into laughter. You know, he was just a fun guy to be around.
BUCHELE: Sean was an executive at a printer and technology company. One of his passions was sports. Bill Bishop, another family friend, says it was something Sean shared with his 11-year-old son Brodie.
BILL BISHOP: Sean and Brodie were very tight and did everything together from baseball to wakeboarding.
BUCHELE: On top of sports, Brodie Copeland loved acting. He had just played the role of Michael Darling in a children's production of "Peter Pan." Bill Bishop's son played baseball with Brodie. He says it's hard to explain what happened.
BISHOP: You hear about these attacks around the world, and until you, really, I guess, affected by these kind of - you know, it's just kind of hard for the kids to understand, you know - and, I mean, for all of us to understand.
BUCHELE: Sean's wife Kim Copeland and his two children from a previous marriage remain in Nice for now. His brothers are expected to fly to France with the State Department officials to bring the entire family home. For NPR News, I'm Mose Buchele in Austin. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
