Five soldiers were shot during an incident at the United States Army’s Fort Stewart in the southern US state of Georgia before the suspected shooter, identified as Army Sergeant Quornelius Radford, was taken into custody, military authorities have said.
Parts of the base were placed on temporary lockdown on Wednesday after reports of an active shooter. The five wounded soldiers were treated at the site of the shooting before being transferred to Winn Army Community Hospital.
Brigadier General John Lubas, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said that the five soldiers who were shot in the incident are currently in stable condition.
Lubas said that the alleged shooter opened fire on his workplace but was tackled “immediately and without hesitation” by soldiers who saw the shooting taking place. The motivations of the attacker are not yet clear, but the general says the attack was carried out with a personal handgun rather than a military-issued weapon. The injured soldiers were described as Radford’s co-workers.
Fort Stewart says that law enforcement first responded to reports of a possible shooting in the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team area at 10:56am ET (14:56 GMT). The base was locked down shortly after 11:04am (15:04 GMT), and the alleged shooter was apprehended at 11:35am (15:35 GMT).
The lockdown was in place for about one hour, and three schools outside the base were also placed on lockdown out of what the Liberty County School System said was an “abundance of caution”.
Located about 64km (40 miles) southwest of Savannah, Fort Stewart is the largest US Army post east of the Mississippi River. It’s home to thousands of soldiers assigned to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and their family members.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said in a social media post that he was “saddened by today’s tragedy”.
“We are keeping the victims, their families, and all those who answer the call to serve in our hearts and prayers, and we ask that Georgians everywhere do the same,” Kemp added.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also stated in a social media post that US President Donald Trump has been briefed on the incident and is following developments.
The president himself addressed the shooting later in the afternoon at an Oval Office event with Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“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 said, describing the suspect as a “horrible person”.
“The entire nation is praying for the victims and their families, and hopefully they’ll fully recover. And we can put this chapter behind [sic], but we’re not going to forget what happened.”
