Soldier to appear before military judge on charges that he shot 5 people at a base
FORT STEWART, Georgia — An Army sergeant charged with attempted murder in the shootings of five people at a Georgia base last summer is scheduled to be arraigned Friday before a military judge.
Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, is scheduled to appear in a courtroom at Fort Stewart a week after Army prosecutors referred his case to a general court-martial, which handles cases involving the most serious crimes under military law.
Officials say Radford opened fire with a personal handgun Aug. 6 on members of his supply unit at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia, wounding four soldiers and a civilian worker who was Radford’s romantic partner, before his comrades were able to disarm him and restrain him until military police arrived. The military initially said all five victims were soldiers.
A week after the shooting, Army prosecutors charged Radford with six counts of attempted murder and assault, with the sixth victim being a person the shooter shot and missed. They also accused him of domestic violence. That charge was added because the injured civilian worker was Radford’s “intimate partner,” Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the Army Prosecutors’ Office, told The Associated Press.
The Army has not released the names of the victims, and Fort Stewart officials declined to comment on what led to the shooting.
Under military law, attempted murder carries a sentence of life imprisonment.
Since the shooting, Radford has been held in pretrial detention in a Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina. His military lawyer, Lt. Col. Dylan Mack, said last week that his office does not comment on pending cases.
The largest military post east of the Mississippi River, Fort Stewart is home to thousands of troops assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division. It is located approximately 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Savannah.
Radford serves as a supply sergeant in the division’s 2nd Armored Brigade. Military records show he enlisted in 2018.
Troopers from Radford’s unit said they followed the sound of gunfire into the hallways of an office building where they found hazy smoke in the air and injured victims on the floor and in nearby offices.
Brig. Gen. John Lubas, commander of the 3rd Infantry, credited the soldiers with saving lives by immediately providing first aid, in some cases using their bare hands to stop bleeding gunshot wounds.
Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll visited Fort Stewart the day after the shooting to award meritorious service medals to six soldiers who helped subdue the shooter and treat the victims.
