SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A U.S. Army sergeant accused of shooting five fellow soldiers at a Georgia base was charged Tuesday with attempted murder, aggravated assault and domestic violence as the Army revealed that one of the victims was the suspect’s romantic partner.
The charges were issued as Sgt. Quornelius Radford made his first appearance Tuesday in a military courtroom at Fort Stewart, where officials say he opened fire with a personal handgun on members of his supply unit. The hearing officer ordered Radford, 28, to remain in pretrial confinement.
Radford was arrested Aug. 6 after officials say soldiers disarmed and restrained him until military police arrived.
All five of the wounded soldiers survived the attack. Radford was charged with six counts of attempted murder — the sixth referring to a soldier he shot at and missed, said Michelle McCaskill, a spokesperson for the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel, which is prosecuting Radford.
Radford also faces six counts of aggravated assault and a single count of domestic violence.
“That charge is there because one of the victims was the intimate partner of the accused,” McCaskill said.
She said she did not know whether Radford’s partner was among the five people he wounded. The Army has not released the victims’ names.
Fort Stewart officials have declined to comment on the shooter’s motives.
Under military law, attempted murder carries a potential penalty of life imprisonment.
Radford was represented by Army defense attorneys at his hearing Tuesday. Phone and email messages left with Fort Stewart’s Trial Defense Service were not immediately returned.
Now that he’s been charged, Radford faces pretrial proceedings to determine whether there is enough evidence for him to stand trial by court-martial.
The largest Army post east of the Mississippi River, Fort Stewart is home to thousands of soldiers assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division. It is located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Savannah.
Radford served as a supply sergeant in the division’s 2nd Armored Brigade. Army records show he enlisted in 2018.
Soldiers in Radford’s unit said they followed the sound of gunfire into the hallways of an office building where they found hazy gunsmoke in the air and wounded victims on the floor and in nearby offices.
Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the 3rd Infantry’s commander, credited soldiers with saving lives by immediately rendering first aid, in some cases using their bare hands to staunch bleeding gunshot wounds.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll visited Fort Stewart the day after the shootings to award Meritorious Service Medals to six soldiers who helped restrain the gunman and treat the victims.
