Quprnelius Radford
FORT STEWART, Ga. - A U.S. Army soldier accused of shooting five people at Fort Stewart in August will stand trial in a military court on charges that include attempted murder, Army prosecutors announced Friday.
What we know:
Charges against Sgt. Quornelius Radford have been referred to a general court-martial, which handles the most serious offenses under military law, according to a news release from the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel.
Officials say Radford opened fire with a personal handgun on Aug. 6 on members of his supply unit at the southeast Georgia base. Four soldiers and a civilian worker were injured before fellow soldiers disarmed and restrained him until military police arrived. The Army initially said all five victims were soldiers.
A week after the shooting, prosecutors charged Radford with six counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault. The sixth count involves a person Radford allegedly fired at but did not hit.
Prosecutors also charged Radford with domestic violence because one of the victims was his "intimate partner," Michelle McCaskill, a spokesperson for the Army prosecutors’ office told The Associated Press in August. It remains unclear whether Radford’s partner was among the five people wounded. The Army has not released the victims’ names.
Radford waived a preliminary hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury, that would have determined whether there was enough evidence to move forward with a court-martial. Army prosecutors said a military judge will now be assigned to the case and pretrial proceedings will be scheduled.
Radford was represented by Army attorneys from Fort Stewart’s Trial Defense Service during his first court appearance in August. That office did not immediately return phone and email messages Friday.
What we don't know:
Fort Stewart officials have declined to comment on what led to the shooting.
Under military law, a conviction for attempted murder carries a potential penalty of life imprisonment.
Dig deeper:
Fort Stewart, the largest Army post east of the Mississippi River, is home to thousands of soldiers assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division. The installation is located about 40 miles southwest of Savannah.
Army records show Radford enlisted in 2018 and has been serving as a supply sergeant in the division’s 2nd Armored Brigade.
Soldiers in Radford’s unit previously said they followed the sound of gunfire into the hallways of an office building, where they encountered hazy gun smoke and found wounded victims on the floor and in nearby offices.
Brig. Gen. John Lubas, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, credited soldiers with saving lives by immediately rendering first aid, in some cases using their bare hands to stop bleeding from gunshot wounds.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll visited Fort Stewart the day after the shooting to award Meritorious Service Medals to six soldiers who helped restrain the gunman and treat the victims.
The Source: The details in this article are based on reporting by the Associated Press. Previous FOX 5 Atlanta reports were also used.