Three men from the Halifax area have been charged after an American sailor who was apparently trying to break up a fight was killed outside a downtown nightclub, police say.

Damon Crooks, 28, of Jacksonville, Fla., was found early Saturday with stab wounds and was pronounced dead in hospital. A fellow sailor was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries.

The U.S. Navy vessels USS Gunston Hall, right, and USS Doyle rest at berth in Halifax. They are taking part in exercises.
(Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

"It looks as though the American sailors attempted to intervene as Good Samaritans," Halifax police spokewoman Theresa Brien told CBC News on Sunday.

"We're still trying to piece together exactly what happened, but it does appear at this point that there was a fight unrelated to the American sailors where a local individual was being beaten," she said.

Cory Wright, 23, of Halifax has been charged with first-degree murder and is expected to appear in court Monday.

A 24-year-old man from Dartmouth faces a charge of assault and a 22-year-old man, also from Dartmouth, faces a charge of obstruction. Both are scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 14.

Six people were arrested after the stabbing.

The man who died was a sailor aboard USS Doyle, a U.S. naval frigate that is in Halifax for training exercises.

Cmdr. Herman Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy, said the stabbing is tragic, but it's also a time when "sailors come together" to comfort each other and their families.

With files from the Canadian Press