Why did Army sergeant open fire at Fort Stewart? What we know about the motive
A mass shooting at an Army installation in Georgia has left the military community rocked and the nation with questions about the suspect's motives and how he brought an outside gun onto the base.
The shooting at Fort Stewart unfolded late morning on Aug. 6 when Army officials said a sergeant opened fire on his own team, using a personal handgun to shoot and injure five fellow soldiers before being tackled and subdued by other soldiers. All five were expected to recover, Army Brig. Gen. John Lubas said.
Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll presented medals to the soldiers who stopped the suspect and provided care to the injured during a ceremony on Aug. 7.
"You are doing what you signed up to do, which is train to be ready to deploy to protect your fellow soldiers on behalf of your nation," Driscoll told soldiers at Fort Stewart.
The suspect, 28-year-old Sgt. Quornelius Radford, was taken into custody after the shooting. The automated logistics noncommissioned officer was stationed at Fort Stewart and had a recent arrest for driving under the influence. A motive for the shooting was still not revealed after Army officials gave updates on Aug. 7.
The shooting drew reactions from lawmakers across the political spectrum who offered prayers to the soldiers, family members and first responders at Fort Stewart.
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House the "entire nation is praying for the victims and their families," calling the suspect "horrible."
"Today, a cowardly shooting at Fort Stewart left five brave Soldiers wounded," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. "Swift justice will be brought to the perpetrator and anyone else found to be involved."
Here's what we know:
What happened at Fort Stewart?
The shooting broke out just before 11 a.m. on Aug. 6 in an area of the south Georgia installation associated with the 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, a tank unit that returned from a deployment in Europe in the summer of 2024, Lubas said.
Radford was apprehended at about 11:35 a.m. Fellow soldiers who witnessed the shooting tackled him to the ground and subdued him until authorities arrived and took him into custody.
"These soldiers, without a doubt, prevented further casualties," Lubas said.
The base was placed on lockdown, which was lifted around midday and declared all-clear just before 2 p.m.
Two of the injured soldiers were transported to a trauma center and three were treated at the Winn Army Community Hospital on the base. One underwent surgery.
Lubas said Radford used a personal gun, not a military firearm, to carry out the attack. It wasn't clear how he got the outside gun through security and onto the base, he said.
Who is the suspect?
Radford worked as an automated logistics officer. Soldiers in that field manage maintenance or warehouse operations by placing orders and tracking work in Army computer systems. He had been stationed at Fort Stewart since 2022 and was never deployed to combat.
The shooting suspect also had a recent arrest for driving under the influence, Lubas said. The arrest was "unknown to his chain of command until the (shooting) occurred," Lubas said.
Court records show the arrest happened in May in Liberty County, where Fort Stewart is located. He was driving a 2021 Nissan Altima with Florida plates at the time of the arrest, the records showed. He was also charged with running a red light.
What is the condition of the injured soldiers?
Authorities gave updates on the conditions of the five injured soldiers in a news conference the morning of Aug. 7. The identities of the injured were not released.
Three of the five were treated and released from hospitals on Aug. 6, according to Lubas. Two soldiers, both women, are still hospitalized. One is at the Winn Army Community Hospital on the base. The other, whose condition is more serious, is at a hospital in Savannah.
"She's got a little bit longer road to recovery," Lubas said. "They’re very hopeful she’s going to make a complete recovery."
Soldiers recognized for 'heroism,' 'courage'
Six soldiers received awards for intervening in the shooting and rendering aid to the victims, Driscoll said. When the shooting broke out, one unarmed soldier rushed forward to tackle the suspect. Another jumped on top of him to further subdue him until authorities arrived.
"So just think about this. They were unarmed and ran out and tackled an armed person," Driscoll said.
Others responded to the scene and provided first aid to the wounded, stopping their bleeding, Lubas said.
"No one hesitated," Lubas said.
Suspect booked into jail
Authorities said Radford was being held in pretrial confinement with the Army Criminal Investigation Division on Aug. 6, awaiting a charging decision by the Office of the Special Trial Council, Lubas said.
That evening, military police escorted him to the Liberty County Jail in Hinesville, Georgia, less than 10 miles from Fort Stewart's main gate, according to reporting by the Savannah Morning News, part of the Paste BN Network.
Radford will likely be transferred to a military detention facility, according to Criminal Investigation Division Regional Special Agent in Charge Ryan O'Connor.
What was the motive behind the Fort Stewart shooting?
Authorities haven't said what Radford's motive may have been.
Eddie Radford, the suspect's father, told the New York Times that he hadn't noticed anything unusual about his son's behavior and didn't know what might have led to the violent attack.
"It’s hard for me to process," Eddie Radford told the Times, adding that his son had been seeking a transfer and complained to his family of racism at Fort Stewart.
-Michael Loria
After news of a shooting, the unknown was most frightening
Noah Bell was born at Fort Stewart. The 25-year-old Georgia Southern University student was at his part-time case-managing job about half an hour away when he got a text from his mom, a nurse on the base.
The active shooting alert that went out was not a drill; this was really happening, she told him.
“Her texting me directly saying it wasn’t a drill was pretty frightening... The fact that she wasn’t able to convey any more details was pretty frightening,” Bell said. “I sat there and I hoped and prayed that I would hear something sooner than later.”
It was about an hour before Bell heard the situation was over, and the unknown during that time was the worst part, he said. He didn't want to call his mom just in case her phone ringer might alert the shooter to her location, Bell said.
Bell lives in Hinesville, the metropolitan area that includes Fort Stewart, and said the base is so intertwined with civilian life in the area that without it, there would be no Hinesville.
“You go into a grocery store, you’re going to see more people that are dressed in their uniform than you would in civilian clothing,” he said.
After news of the shooting spread, Bell said everyone was reaching out to people they knew with connections to Fort Stewart.
It’s always felt like a safe place to live and still does, Bell said. But Bell hopes that the Army will place more importance on supporting soldiers’ behavioral health. Though a motive in this shooting is unclear, Bell pointed to mental health challenges behind other shootings, including on military bases.
Shooting sent loved ones scrambling for safety
Sadie Mohrbacher was at the theater watching the new Fantastic Four movie when she received a terrifying text message from her sister the morning of Aug. 6: "Active shooter on base. We are on lockdown."
Mohrbacher, 25, rushed out of the theater and called her sister, Paige Siple, who lives on the Fort Stewart military base in Georgia with her husband. Siple said that she was home alone and had locked the doors, closed all the curtains, and taken refuge in an upstairs closet with her dog, Ranger.
Siple’s husband, an active duty soldier who was working on the base, was safe and able to return home from work after the lockdown was lifted for a portion of Fort Stewart.
"It was horrifying," Mohrbacher told Paste BN.
Fort Stewart, a sprawling military installation that covers an area larger than the size of New York City, houses thousands of people that include soldiers, family members and civilian employees.
− Christopher Cann
This wasn't the first shooting at Fort Stewart. Military bases have history of attacks.
Mass shootings occur in all manner of American settings, and military bases are no exception. The deadliest in U.S. history in a military base happened in 2009 at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas, when a major shot unarmed soldiers in a medical facility, killing 13 and wounding dozens.
Other major shootings have happened at military bases in Texas, D.C. and Florida.
Also at Fort Stewart, in December 2022, a fellow soldier shot and killed Sgt. Nathan Hillman at the unit's building complex.
Contributing: Davis Winkie, Christopher Cann, Ansley Franco, Michael Loria and Thao Nguyen, Paste BN; The Savannah Morning News; Reuters