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- 6 soldiers awarded medals for acting as gunfire erupted at Fort Stewart military base</p>
<p>Dakin Andone, Ryan Young, Jason Morris, CNNAugust 7, 2025 at 6:56 PM</p>
<p>Sgt. Quornelius Radford, a suspect in the shooting of five soldiers at Fort Stewart, is escorted by military police into a booking room at the Liberty County Jail in Hinesville, Georgia, on Wednesday. - Lewis M. Levine/AP</p>
<p>US Army 1st Sgt. Joshua Arnold was in a conference room with one of his officers at Fort Stewart military base in Georgia on Wednesday when the crack of gunfire pierced the air.</p>
<p>"That sounds like a gunshot. That sounds like a gunshot," he said.</p>
<p>As he stood, "it seemed like a flash went past my conference room," he told CNN. He stepped into the hallway and called out, "Was that a gunshot?"</p>
<p>No one answered.</p>
<p>Arnold ran down the hall, past a spent shell casing lying on the ground. Then, he saw a person – one of five soldiers who were wounded when authorities say a 28-year-old active-duty sergeant pulled out a personal weapon and opened fire.</p>
<p>Staff Sgt. Melissa Taylor was checking her email in her office nearby, the day so far unfolding as a regular duty day would. Then, she heard Arnold yelling about gunshots. She peered into the hallway and saw smoke and a wounded soldier.</p>
<p>"I immediately sprinted over to the soldier and got down on my knees and started rendering aid to the soldier," said Taylor, who served seven years as a combat medic.</p>
<p>Helping the wounded, neither Arnold nor Taylor saw what happened next, they told CNN's Pamela Brown: Unarmed soldiers, authorities say, also ran toward the sound of gunshots and tackled the suspect, subduing him and halting a shooting that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said could have been much more severe were it not for their bravery.</p>
<p>Staff Sgt. Aaron Turner – who Driscoll said was unarmed – tried to talk to the suspect before physically engaging and restraining him. As they grappled, Turner said the suspect was still trying to reload his weapon.</p>
<p>"(It) got to the point where the magazine ended up coming out, and by that time frame, the next one was trying to get loaded in, got loaded, but (I) still had physical control over it," Turner said. "I was able to disarm him, drop the magazine and eject the round."</p>
<p>Army Secretary Dan Driscoll awards medals to soldiers at Fort Stewart on Thursday. - WJCL</p>
<p>On Thursday, Driscoll praised Arnold, Taylor, Turner and three other soldiers, awarding them the Meritorious Service Medal for their actions.</p>
<p>"Under duress and fire, they ran into battle to the sound of the gunfire, took down the assailant, and then took care of their comrades. And that made all the difference," Driscoll said Thursday at Fort Stewart.</p>
<p>Turner of Farmington, New Mexico, was the first to subdue the suspect, with Master Sgt. Justin Thomas from Kingwood, Texas, helping to keep him restrained, according to the Army. Additional assistance came from Staff Sgt. Robert Pacheco and Sgt. Eve Rodarte, both combat medics, base officials told CNN.</p>
<p>In the meantime, investigators continue to probe the shooting – and the alleged motive of the 28-year-old active-duty sergeant who authorities say pulled out a personal handgun and opened fire at the base.</p>
<p>The shooting was the latest example of the epidemic of gun violence plaguing the United States, showing even a US military installation filled with soldiers is not immune: Wednesday's incident is among at least 262 mass shootings in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.</p>
<p>CNN and the GVA define a mass shooting as one that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter.</p>
<p>Here's what else we know about the shooting, and which questions remain.</p>
<p>How the shooting unfolded</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Brig. Gen. John Lubas said Radford's alleged motive was not known.</p>
<p>But a law enforcement official briefed on the case told CNN Radford had a disagreement with one of the victims on Tuesday. He followed that coworker to a maintenance area and shot him in the chest before shooting four others.</p>
<p>That's when Lubas said other soldiers "prevented further casualties" by tackling Radford, allowing police to arrest him.</p>
<p>A sign for Fort Stewart in Georgia is seen on August 6. - Mike Stewart/AP</p>
<p>It's unclear what the disagreement was about.</p>
<p>Law enforcement responded at 10:56 a.m. ET, according to a Facebook post from Fort Stewart Hunter Army Airfield. Less than 10 minutes later, the base was locked down. Emergency personnel were sent to treat the victims at 11:09 a.m., the post said.</p>
<p>The soldiers on Wednesday handled the scene like a "battle drill," said Lt. Col. Mike Sanford, the commander of the 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, praising their work.</p>
<p>"They went into action and did what they needed to do," Sanford said. "Whether it's here or overseas or we're in combat – they did the right thing."</p>
<p>What we know about the suspect</p>
<p>Authorities did not offer substantial new details Thursday about the suspect – identified as Sgt. Quornelius Samentrio Radford – saying they would not speculate about his motives.</p>
<p>Radford remains in custody and will likely be transferred to a military detention center, said Ryan O'Connor, Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) Special Agent in Charge.</p>
<p>Radford joined the Army in 2018 as an automated logistical specialist and was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, the US Army said. His role involved handling supplies and warehouse operations.</p>
<p>Radford had not deployed to a combat zone and had no known behavioral incidents on his military record, Lubas said.</p>
<p>However, the general acknowledged Radford was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in May. Radford's chain of command was unaware of the arrest prior to Wednesday's shooting, Lubas said.</p>
<p>Radford was out on bond and scheduled to be arraigned on August 20.</p>
<p>Taylor, the staff sergeant, told CNN she helped reenlist the suspect "a little while back," saying he had spoken with her about reenlisting since she is a career counselor.</p>
<p>Other than "the work part of it, I do not believe that the soldier ever spoke to me about anything personal. So I did not have any kind of background history on him," Taylor said, noting Radford raised no red flags.</p>
<p>"You cannot reenlist a soldier if there was any kind of flag in place or anything like that. So, he met all the criteria at the time," she said.</p>
<p>Photo shows suspected shooter Quornelius Samentrio Radford in a booking photo from May 18, 2025, where he was arrested for driving under the influence and booked in the Liberty County Jail in Georgia. - Liberty County Sheriff's Office</p>
<p>The suspect's father, Eddie Radford, had not noticed unusual behavior by his son recently, he told The New York Times. He did not know what might have motivated the shooting, but said his son had complained about racism at Fort Stewart and had been seeking a transfer.</p>
<p>The Times did not publish more specifics.</p>
<p>Fort Stewart declined to comment on the racism allegation and whether Radford had requested a transfer. "The circumstances that led to the events today are currently under investigation," a spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division told CNN.</p>
<p>The suspect used a personal handgun in Wednesday's attack, Lubas said Wednesday.</p>
<p>The weapon is a 9mm Glock the suspect bought in Florida in May, according to the law enforcement official. The gun was recovered at the scene along with numerous shell casings, the official said.</p>
<p>Authorities are unsure how Radford got the gun through the base's high security before carrying out the shooting at his place of work. Carrying personal firearms on base is typically prohibited by military regulations.</p>
<p>2 female soldiers remain hospitalized</p>
<p>The wounded soldiers have not been publicly identified. But two of them – both women – remained hospitalized as of Thursday morning, according to Lubas, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division.</p>
<p>"One soldier remains as an in-patient at Winn Army (Community Hospital) right here on Fort Stewart. She's doing very well, in high spirits," Lubas said. "Of course, she's got a little bit of a road to recovery. We're hopeful she may be released as early as this weekend but that will just depend on how things heal up over the next couple of days."</p>
<p>The other soldier, however, has a "little bit longer road to recovery," Lubas said. "The doctors are very positive, but I think it's going to take her a bit longer to recover."</p>
<p>What happens next</p>
<p>Radford has been interviewed by the Army Criminal Investigation Division and remains in pretrial confinement as he waits for a charging decision by the Office of the Special Trial Counsel, Lubas said Wednesday.</p>
<p>The suspect will be tried by the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel, according to a military official – an office akin to a US Attorney's Office. The OSTC is reviewing the evidence and in the process of drawing up charges.</p>
<p>Once that's done, the suspect is expected to be court-martialed, the military official said.</p>
<p>That would be comparable to a trial. It is, however, a "completely different justice system" than a civilian would face, CNN analyst Ret. Gen. Ty Seidule told CNN Wednesday.</p>
<p>Radford, Seidule said, would be subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, under which the military has its own judges and prosecuting counsels. Soldiers accused of the most serious crimes may face a court-martial.</p>
<p>If convicted of a serious crime, Radford could be imprisoned at a military prison, Seidule said.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump on Wednesday vowed the suspect would be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."</p>
<p>Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth similarly said in a post on X, "Swift justice will be brought to the perpetrator and anyone else found to be involved."</p>
<p>This is a developing story and will be .</p>
<p>CNN's Ryan Young and Jason Morris reported from Fort Stewart, while Dakin Andone reported and wrote this story in New York. CNN's Danya Gainor, Andy Rose, Lauren Mascarenhas and Maureen Chowdhury contributed to this report.</p>
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