By RUSS BYNUM
FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — An Army sergeant charged with attempted murder in the shootings of five people at a Georgia base last summer faces arraignment Friday before a military judge.
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Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, is scheduled to appear in a courtroom at Fort Stewart a week after Army prosecutors referred his case to a general court-martial, which handles cases involving the most serious crimes under military law.
Officials say Radford opened fire with a personal handgun Aug. 6 on members of his supply unit at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia, injuring four soldiers and a civilian worker who was Radford’s romantic partner, before fellow soldiers were able to disarm and restrain him until military police arrived. The Army initially said all five victims were soldiers.
A week after the shootings, Army prosecutors charged Radford with six counts of attempted murder and assault, with the sixth victim being a person the shooter fired at and missed. They also charged him with domestic violence. That charge was added because the injured civilian worker was Radford’s “intimate partner,” Michelle McCaskill, a spokesperson for the Army prosecutors’ office, told The Associated Press.
The Army has not released the victims’ names and Fort Stewart officials have declined to comment on what led to the shooting.
Under military law, attempted murder carries a potential penalty of life imprisonment.
Since the shootings, Radford has been held in pretrial confinement at a Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina. His military attorney, Lt. Col. Dylan Mack, said last week that his office does not comment on pending cases.
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 has been serving 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 gun smoke 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.
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