The Army sergeant accused of opening fire at Georgia’s Fort Stewart base and wounding five fellow soldiers was subdued by quick-thinking servicemembers soon after the bullets started flying.
“Soldiers who witnessed the shooting immediately and without hesitation tackled the shooter so he could be brought into custody,” Brig. Gen. John Lubas told reporters outside the base Wednesday afternoon, just hours after gunfire erupted.
What motivated the shooter — identified as 28-year-old Sgt. Quornelius Radford — to commit the heinous act was not immediately known, Lubas said.
“What we know is the shooting occurred at the soldier’s place of work, it did involve his coworkers. We’re not sure of the motivations but he’s been interviewed by Army investigators and we believe we’ll get more information shortly.”
Lubas said Radford used a personal handgun in the attack, which left five soldiers stationed at the sprawling base wounded — three of whom required surgical intervention. All five victims were stable and expected to recover.
Little was immediately known about Radford, 28, who Lubas said had never been deployed to combat and was not known to have had any disciplinary issues. He was described as an Automated Logistics Sergeant assigned to the 2nd Brigade combat team at Fort Stewart.
Lubas said officials were looking into reports that Radford got a DUI charge in May, but that the incident was not known to his chain of command until they started looking into police records following the shooting.
Radford is currently in pre-trial confinement awaiting a charging decision by the Office of Special Trial Counsel.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
