Fort Stewart in Chaos: Soldiers Forced to Tackle and Detain Fellow Sergeant After He Allegedly Shoots 5—Shocking Incident Ends in Dramatic On-Base Arrest
Army Sgt. Quornelius Radford was accused of shooting five soldiers at Fort Stewart, Ga., on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (U.S. Army)
An Army sergeant opened fire on other soldiers in his unit Wednesday morning at Fort Stewart, sending five of them to local hospitals for treatment, officials at the Georgia Army post said.
Soldiers tackled 28-year-old shooting suspect Sgt. Quornelius Radford shortly after he began shooting inside a building in Fort Stewart’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team complex just before 11 a.m. They held on to him until law enforcement could arrest him, said Brig. Gen. John Lubas, who commands the 3rd Infantry Division and is the top officer at Fort Stewart, where most of the division is located.
“I’d like to recognize and thank our Army law enforcement and medical personnel and our partners from local, state and federal law enforcement and emergency services for their quick response and support,” Lubas said during a news briefing. “I would also like to thank the brave soldiers who immediately intervened and subdued the shooter. These soldiers, without a doubt, prevented further casualties.”
The shooting victims are all expected to survive their injuries, Lubas said. Three were hospitalized at Winn Army Community Hospital at Fort Stewart, and two were rushed to Mercer University Medical Center in Savannah, a Level 1 trauma center, where they had surgery, he said.
Lubas ordered the base locked down for more than an hour as law enforcement worked to ensure the shooting was isolated. He lifted the lockdown early Wednesday afternoon.
Army Criminal Investigation Division agents had interviewed Radford after the shooting, but the general declined to answer questions about a potential motive for the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation. He said terrorism was not suspected.
Lubas said Radford used a personal handgun in the attack. Personal weapons are banned on military installations, and soldiers do not routinely have access to military weapons unless they work in law enforcement.
Despite the incident, Lubas — who took command of the 3rd ID last month — said he remained “very confident” in Fort Stewart’s security.
“We’ve got a great partnership with local law enforcement, as you can see here at our gates, we have armed guards in protective equipment,” he said. “This one’s a bit difficult, and we’re going to have to determine how he was able to get a handgun to his place of duty.”
Radford, who is from Jacksonville, Fla., was assigned to Fort Stewart’s 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division as an automated logistics sergeant, officials said. He had been assigned to the base since 2022 and had not deployed into combat, base officials said.
Lubas said Radford had recently been arrested by civilian law enforcement for drunken driving, but his chain of command was unaware of that incident before the shooting.
He was being held in pretrial confinement on post Wednesday afternoon while the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel, which prosecutes major crimes, weighs criminal charges in the case.
This was not the first shooting at Fort Stewart.
Sgt. Nathan M. Hillman was killed in a shooting at Fort Stewart’s 2nd Brigade complex in December 2022. Another soldier, Spc. Shay A. Wilson, was charged with murder in that incident.
The 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team complex is located in its own secured area, separate from Fort Stewart’s main garrison, which houses the division headquarters and most of the post’s other units. The complex houses the about 5,000-soldier brigade’s headquarters, its barracks, a dining facility, a gym and facilities for its subordinate units.
Fort Stewart is located in the coastal region of Georgia about 40 miles southwest of Savannah. Spanning some 280,000 acres, it is the largest U.S. military installation by acreage east of the Mississippi River.
