A sergeant allegedly shot five soldiers on an army base. His past criminal history was news to his commander
An Army sergeant opened fire at the Fort Stewart Base in Georgia Wednesday, shooting five fellow soldiers and causing a lockdown, officials said.
Authorities identified the suspected shooter as logistics Sgt. Quornelius Radford. A motive was not immediately known, but officials said they believed Radford used a personal handgun, not a military weapon.
The attack prompted soldiers in the area to “immediately and without hesitation,” tackle the shooter, Brig. Gen. John Lubas said.
Radford was taken into custody soon after the shooting, and officials later said that there was “no active threat to the community.”
He has a limited criminal past, including a DUI arrest, but officials at the base admitted they were unaware of his history.
The five soldiers who were injured are in stable condition and are expected to recover, Lubas said. The Army won’t release their names pending notification of family members, and officials won’t speculate on a motive, Lt. Col. Angel Tomko said.
The shooting occurred in the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team area, according to the army base.
Law enforcement were called to the scene just before 11 a.m. and by 11:04 a.m., the base went into lockdown. About 30 minutes after the base went into lockdown, authorities apprehended the gunman.
“Fort Stewart lifted the lockdown of the main cantonment area at 12:10 p.m. 2nd ABCT complex is still locked down,” officials said. The lockdown order was extended to the Wright and Evans Army Airfield.
The lockdown lasted about an hour, and prompted three schools near the base to also lock down “out of an abundance of caution,” the Liberty County School System said. The lockdown, which was lifted just before 2 p.m., coincided with students’ first day back in the classroom after summer break.
Officials identified the shooter as logistics Sgt. Quornelius Radford. He is 28 years old, a law enforcement source told CNN, which also reported that he was arrested in May for DUI.
The suspected shooter’s supervisors did not know he had previously been arrested, Lubas said.
“I do believe he was arrested locally for a DUI. That was unknown to his chain of command until the event occurred and we started looking into the law enforcement databases,” Lubas said.
Radford is currently being held in pretrial confinement awaiting charges, Lubas said. Authorities have not yet shared a motive behind the attack. They also have to determine how the suspected shooter brought his personal gun onto the Army base.
