Army Sergeant Held After 5 Soldiers Shot at Fort Stewart

Active-Duty Army Sergeant Arrested After Workplace Shooting at Fort Stewart

An active-duty Army sergeant was taken into custody on Wednesday after opening fire at his workplace on the sprawling Fort Stewart military base in Georgia, wounding five of his fellow soldiers. According to authorities, the suspect, identified as Sgt. Quornelius Samentrio Radford, 28, was subdued by nearby soldiers after he began shooting with a personal handgun, striking several coworkers.

Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division, confirmed that all five soldiers are in stable condition. However, the motive behind the shooting remains unknown. This incident is among at least 262 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. It comes just days after shootings at a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper and a neighborhood bar in rural Montana that left multiple people dead.

A Disagreement Led to Tragedy

According to a law enforcement official briefed on the case, Radford had a disagreement with one of the shooting victims on Tuesday. He followed that coworker to a maintenance area and shot him in the chest before shooting four others. It is unclear what the disagreement was about.

Other soldiers “prevented further casualties” by tackling Radford before police arrested him, Lubas said. “Soldiers in the area that witnessed the shooting immediately and without hesitation tackled the soldier, subdued him. That allowed law enforcement to then take him into custody,” he explained.

Radford’s father, Eddie Radford, told The New York Times that he hadn’t noticed any unusual behavior by his son recently and didn’t know what might have motivated the shooting. He mentioned that his son had complained about racism at Fort Stewart and had been seeking a transfer, though the details were not disclosed.

Fort Stewart declined to comment on the racism allegation or whether Radford had requested a transfer. A spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division stated, “The circumstances that led to the events today are currently under investigation.”

Previous DUI Arrest Raises Questions

Radford, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, joined the Army in 2018 as an automated logistical specialist and was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team. His role involved handling supplies and warehouse operations. Lubas noted that Radford had not deployed to a combat zone and had no known behavioral incidents in his military record. However, the general acknowledged that Radford had been arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in May, an arrest that his chain of command was unaware of prior to the shooting.

The DUI arrest “was unknown to his chain of command until the event occurred, and we started looking into the law enforcement databases,” Lubas said. Radford was out on bond in the DUI case, according to online court records for Liberty County, Georgia. He was scheduled to be arraigned on August 20.

Personal Handgun Used in the Shooting

Radford used a personal handgun—not a military weapon—in the shooting, Lubas said. The firearm is a 9mm Glock that the suspect bought in Florida in May, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the case. The gun was recovered at the scene along with numerous shell casings, the official said.

Authorities are unsure how Radford got the gun through the base’s high security before carrying out the shooting at his place of work. “At our gates, we have armed guards and protective equipment,” Lubas said. “We’re going to have to determine how he was able to get a handgun to his place of duty.” Carrying personal firearms on base is typically prohibited by military regulations.

Timeline of the Incident

The shooting occurred at 10:56 a.m. ET, according to a social media post from Fort Stewart Hunter Army Airfield. Less than ten minutes later, the base was locked down. At 11:09 a.m., emergency personnel were sent to treat the five soldiers who were shot. While all five soldiers are in stable condition, three of them required surgery, Lubas said.

Radford was apprehended at 11:35 a.m., and the lockdown of the “main cantonment area” was lifted 35 minutes later. Since the shooting, Radford has been interviewed by the Army Criminal Investigation Division and now sits in pretrial confinement as he waits for a charging decision by the Office of the Special Trial Counsel.

Fort Stewart Community Impact

In addition to military training grounds, Fort Stewart is home to thousands of families who live on base with their family members assigned there. The base supports more than 10,000 people, including soldiers, family members, and Army civilian employees. The shooting happened in an area of the base that houses the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, also known as the Spartan Brigade.

The Spartan Brigade was first constituted in 1917 in North Carolina and entered combat during World War I. Though the brigade was disbanded before World War II due to Army reorganization, several of its units participated in key American maneuvers during the war. In 1963, the Spartan Brigade was reconstituted and has since been positioned in Germany, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout Africa for military strikes, humanitarian assistance, and reconstruction efforts.

In 2016, the Army chose the Spartan Brigade to convert to the 15th Armored Brigade Combat Team, a modernized tank brigade. Following Wednesday’s shooting, authorities emphasized their focus on the well-being of the victims and the community at Fort Stewart.

“Our primary focus is first on caring for our injured soldiers and their families and also supporting the soldiers of the Spartan brigade,” Lubas said. “All of the families of the victims have been notified, wrapping our arms around them and ensuring we provide them all the support that we can.”