5 soldiers injured in shooting at Fort Stewart in Georgia, Army sergeant in custody
A U.S. Army sergeant allegedly shot and wounded five other soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia, using his personal handgun, officials said.
The shooting at the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team area was reported at 10:56 a.m and the suspect, automated logistics Sgt. Quornelius Radford, was apprehended at 11:35 a.m., Fort Stewart said. All lockdown measures have since been lifted, Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the 3rd Infantry Division and Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield commander, said at a news conference.
A motive is not clear, Lubas said, but the shooting involved the 28-year-old Radford’s co-workers and was at Radford’s “place of work.” He used a personal handgun, but it’s not clear how he brought it to his workplace, Lubas added.
Lubas praised the “brave soldiers” who he said “immediately intervened” and tackled the suspect. He said they, “without a doubt, prevented further casualties.”
All five victims are in stable condition and are expected to recover, Lubas said. Hospital officials said two of the victims were rushed to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, which is a Level 1 trauma center about 40 miles from Fort Stewart.
Radford has been interviewed by Army investigators and is in pretrial confinement, Lubas said.
Radford, who is from Jacksonville, Florida, has not previously deployed to combat, Lubas said. He had been arrested locally for a DUI, Lubas said, noting the arrest was “unknown to his chain of command until the [shooting] occurred and we started looking into the law enforcement databases.”
Lubas emphasized that although it is still early in the investigation, he said they are not aware of the suspect having any prior behavioral or disciplinary issues.
Lubas also said he remains “very confident in the security” of Fort Stewart.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said on social media, “We are keeping the victims, their families, and all those who answer the call to serve in our hearts and prayers.”
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“The Army Criminal Investigation Division is on site to ensure that the perpetrator of this atrocity, which is exactly what it is, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
The full circumstances surrounding the shooting were not immediately clear.
Access to combat firearms on a U.S. military personnel on base is highly restricted, with guns kept stored in an armory on the base. Firearm use is limited to only when soldiers are participating in field training, and the guns are returned to the armory at the conclusion of that training.
Military personnel are allowed to have legally registered personal guns, but there are restrictions on how they can be brought onto a base.