A man suspected of shooting and wounding five soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia has been identified as a noncommissioned officer who recently got into trouble with the law.
Officials at the U.S. Army post said the suspected shooter, identified as Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, worked at the base as an automated logistics noncommissioned officer with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team. They said Radford used his personal handgun when he opened fire on his colleagues at the base on the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 6.
Radford is in pretrial confinement awaiting charges, officials said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Fellow soldiers responded swiftly, tackling Radford to the ground, Army Brig. Gen. John Lubas said at a news conference, adding that soldiers likely “prevented further casualties.” The wounded soldiers are in stable condition and expected to recover.
As the soldiers recover and the base reels from the shocking attack, investigators are interviewing Radford and looking into his life and a possible motive. Here’s what we know about him so far:
Recent run-in with the law
Radford was arrested in May for driving under the influence in Liberty County, the area where Fort Stewart is located. “That was unknown to his chain of command until the (shooting) occurred,” Lubas said.
Georgia State Patrol arrested Radford on May 18 for driving under the influence of alcohol and running a red light, Liberty County court records show. He was driving a 2021 Nissan Altima with Florida plates, according to court records.
Georgia state court records in Glynn County, about an hour south of Fort Stewart, showed that he was also fined $90 for speeding on Dec. 13, 2024.
How long was Quornelius Radford stationed at the base?
Radford, of Jacksonville, Florida, had been stationed at Fort Stewart since 2022 and was not previously deployed to combat, Lubas said.
Soldiers in Radford’s field typically manage maintenance or warehouse operations by placing orders and tracking work in Army computer systems.
What do we know about a possible motive?
Military officials said they would not speculate about a motive.
“I don’t have reason to believe that it had anything to do with a training event,” Lubas said. “Other than that, I can’t state the motivations for this soldier.”
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.
Contributing: Davis Winkie, Jeanine Santucci, Christopher Cann, Ansley Franco, Thao Nguyen, Amanda Lee Myers; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Quornelius Radford: What to know about the Fort Stewart suspect
