Fort Stewart, Georgia
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The first sergeant of the U.S. Army. Joshua Arnold was in a conference room at Fort Stewart, Georgia on Wednesday when gunfire pierced the air.
“It sounds like gunfire. It sounds like gunfire,” he said.
“It seems like I've tried my meeting room,” he told CNN. He walked into the corridor and shouted, “Is that a gunshot?”
No one answered.
Arnold ran into the hall and passed a piece of spent shell lying on the ground. Then he saw a man – one of five soldiers was injured when authorities said a 28-year-old active sergeant pulled out his personal weapon and opened fire.
Staff Sergeant. Melissa Taylor is checking her emails in a nearby office and the day has been a regular day so far. Then, she heard Arnold yell at the shooting. She stared into the corridor and saw smoke and a wounded soldier.
“I immediately rushed towards the soldiers, knelt down and began to provide assistance to the soldiers,” Taylor said.
Neither Arnold nor Taylor saw what happened next, and the unarmed soldiers also ran towards the sound of gunfire and grabbed the suspect, conquered him and stopped the shooting, and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said it was not getting worse because of their mastery.
Staff Sergeant. Driscoll said unarmed Aaron Turner tried to talk to the suspect before physically interacting and limiting him. As they struggled, Turner said the suspect was still trying to reload his weapon.
“(It) got to the point where the magazine finally came out, to that time frame, the next attempt was to load, the magazine was loaded, but (i) still had physical control over it,” Turner said. “I was able to disarm him, give up the magazine and pop up the round.”
Driscoll praised Arnold, Taylor, Turner and three other soldiers for awarding medals of merit for their actions.
“In coercion and fire, they met the sound of gunfire, knocked down the attackers, and then took care of their comrades. It would all make a difference,” Driscoll said in Fort Stewart on Thursday.
Turner of Farmington, New Mexico was the first to subdue the suspect with the Sergeant Master. Justin Thomas of Kingwood, Texas, helped him to hold him under shackles, according to the Army. Staff Sgt. Robert Pacheco and Sgt. Base officials told CNN that it was all combat medical worker Eve Rodarte.
Meanwhile, investigators continue to investigate the shooting – the 28-year-old active sergeant allegedly said that authorities said he pulled out his personal pistol and opened fire at the base.
The shootings are the latest example of gun violence plaguing the United States, and even U.S. military devices filled with soldiers are not immune: According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been one of at least 262 mass shootings so far this year.
CNN and GVA define large-scale shooting as one Four or more people were injured or killed, excluding shooters.
This is what we know about the shooting and what other questions are there.
Wednesday, Brig. General John Lubas said Radford's alleged motivation is unclear.
But law enforcement officials in the case said CNN Radford had disagreements with one of the victims on Tuesday. He followed that colleague to a maintenance area and shot in front of his chest and then shot four more.
At that time, Lubas said other soldiers “stopped further casualties” by resolving Radford and allowing police to arrest him.
It is not clear what the disagreement is.
According to a Facebook post from Fort Hunter Army Airport, law enforcement responded at 10:56 a.m. ET. Less than 10 minutes later, the base was locked. The post said first responders were sent to treat the victims at 11:09 a.m.
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Sanford, commander of the 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, said soldiers handled the scene Wednesday.
“They took action and did what they needed to do,” Sanford said. “Whether it's here or overseas, or we're fighting – they're doing the right thing.”
Authorities did not provide a lot of new details about the suspect on Thursday – identified as a sergeant. Quornelius Samentrio Radford – Say they won't speculate on his motivations.
Ryan O'Connor, special agent for the Army's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said Radford is still in custody and may be transferred to a military detention center.
Radford joined the army in 2018 as an automated logistics expert and was assigned to the Second Brigade Combat Team, the U.S. Army said. His role involves handling supplies and warehouse operations.
La Paz said Radford was not deployed to the combat zone and there were no known behavioral events in his military records.
However, the general admitted that Radford was arrested for allegedly driving under May influence. Lubas said the Radford command chain was not aware of the arrest before Wednesday's shooting.
Radford appeared in court and is scheduled to be arraigned on August 20.
Chief of Staff Taylor told CNN that she helped the suspect “soon,” he said he had talked with her about re-entry because she was a career consultant.
Taylor said, apart from “a part of the job, I don't believe that soldiers have ever told me any personal. So I don't have any background history.”
“If there were any flags or similar flags, you would not be able to re-list the soldier. So he met all the standards at that time,” she said.
He told The New York Times that the suspect's father, Eddie Radford, had not noticed his son's unusual behavior recently. He didn't know what might have prompted the shooting, but he said his son complained about racism at Fort Stewart and had been seeking a transfer.
The Times did not release more details.
Fort Stewart declined to comment on the allegations of racism and whether Radford asked for a transfer. A spokesperson for the Third Infantry Division told CNN.
Lubas said Wednesday that the suspect used a personal pistol during the attack on Wednesday.
According to law enforcement officials, the weapon was a 9mm Glock purchased by the suspect in Florida in May. The gun was found at the scene along with many shell casings, the official said.
Authorities are not sure how Radford picked up the gun through the high security of the base and then carried out the shooting at his workplace. Military regulations generally prohibit the carrying of personal guns on bases.
Two female soldiers are still hospitalized
The injured soldier has not been publicly confirmed. Lubas, the Third Infantry Division, said two of the women were still hospitalized as of Thursday morning.
“A soldier is still hospitalized at the Winn Army (community hospital) in Fort Stewart. “Sure, she has some road to recovery. We hope she can be released as early as this weekend, but it only depends on how things recover in the next few days. ”
However, another soldier “has a longer way to recover.” “The doctors are very active, but I think it takes longer to recover.”
Radford was interviewed by the Army's Criminal Investigation Unit and was still under pre-trial restrictions while awaiting the allegation decision from the Special Trial Attorney's Office, Lubas said Wednesday.
According to a military official, the suspect will be tried by the Army's Special Trial Attorney's Office, similar to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The OSTC is reviewing the evidence and is drafting the allegations.
Military officials say that once this is done, the suspect will be carried out by the court.
That would be comparable to judgment. However, this is a “completely different judicial system” compared to CNN analyst RET. General Ty Seidule told CNN on Wednesday.
Seidule said Radford would be bound by a uniform military judicial regulation under which the military has its own judges and prosecutors. Soldiers charged with the most serious crimes may face a military court.
Seidule said that if a serious crime is committed, he may be imprisoned in a military prison.
President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday that the suspect would “prosecute to the maximum extent of the law.”
“Speed justice will be brought to the perpetrators, anyone else who is found involved,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also said in an article on X.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
CNN's Ryan Young and Jason Morris reported on Fort Stewart, while Dakin and Dakin and Dakin and Dakin and One reported and wrote the story in New York. Danya Gainor, Andy Rose, Lauren Mascarenhas and Maureen Chowdhury of CNN contributed to the report.