By RUSS BYNUM and MIKE CATALINI, Associated Press
FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — A sergeant shot five soldiers Wednesday at one the country’s largest Army bases before he was quickly tackled by other Fort Stewart troops, forcing a brief lockdown, officials said.
Few details were immediately available about what led to the gunfire, but officials said the shooter was Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, who used a personal handgun, not a military firearm.
Radford opened fire where he worked but officials wouldn’t speculate about a motive, authorities said.
The injured soldiers are stable and expected to recover, said Brig Gen. John Lubas. The soldiers who tackled Radford helped ensure his arrest, Lubas said.
“These soldiers, without a doubt, prevented further casualties or wounded,” he said.
This latest act of violence on a U.S. military installation — sites that are supposed to be among the most secure in the country — again raised concerns about safety and security within the armed forces’ own walls.
The Army said it’s investigating the shooting. There were still many unanswered questions, including the condition of the soldiers, the scope of their injuries, the name of the shooter as well as any possible motive.
The injured were treated and then moved to Winn Army Community Hospital, base officials said in a Facebook post, adding there’s no threat to the community.
Some of the wounded were also taken to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, said spokesperson Bryna Gordon. The hospital is the top-level trauma center for coastal Georgia. Gordon said she didn’t know how many people were being taken to the hospital or what their conditions are.
Law enforcement was sent to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team complex shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday. The shooter was arrested at 11:35 a.m., officials said.
The lockdown lasted about an hour. After it was lifted, cars began to move through the normal security checkpoint at the fort’s main gate.
The Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team was created in 2016 when the service added more than 200 vehicles to an infantry unit of roughly 4,200 soldiers. Also known as the “Spartan Brigade,” the Army has called the unit its “most modern land fighting force.”
Located about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, Fort Stewart is the largest Army post east of the Mississippi River. It’s home to thousands of soldiers assigned to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and family members.
White House and Defense Department officials said President Donald Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth had been briefed on the shooting.
The FBI was at the fort to help investigate, said Deputy Director Dan Bongino.
Among the deadliest acts of violence on U.S. military bases was a 2009 attack. A U.S. Army psychiatrist killed 13 people in a shooting that left more than 30 wounded at Fort Hood, a military installation in Texas.
In 2013, a defense contract worker and former Navy reservist killed 12 people at Washington Navy Yard. He was then killed in a gun battle with police.
In 2014, a soldier opened fire on his fellow service members at Fort Hood, killing three people and wounding more than a dozen others before the gunman killed himself.
In 2019, an aviation student opened fire in a classroom at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, killing three people and injuring another dozen people including two sheriff’s deputies. Just days earlier, a U.S. Navy sailor shot two people to death before killing himself at Pearl Harbor, the Naval station in Hawaii.
Catalini contributed from Trenton, New Jersey; and Associated Press writers Jeff Martin and Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Konstantin Toropin and Mike Pesoli in Washington, D.C.; and Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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