Webern married Wilhelmine Mortl in 1911 and had three daughters and a son. However, in February 1945, he and his wife had to flee from Vienna to Mittersil near Salzberg, as their son was killed in an air bombardment of a troop train on the eastern front. They stayed with their daughter where they thought it would be safe. However, his life ended in a tragic note when on the evening of September 15, 1945, he was shot and killed by an American soldier by mistake, when he stepped out of his son-in-law’s house. Austria was under the occupation of Allies and his son-in-law was arrested for black-market activities. Despite the curfew that was imposed, he stepped out of his house to enjoy a cigar, when he was shot. The soldier who was responsible for the action, Raymond Norwood Bell was overcome by regret and died of alcoholism in 1955.