FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — An Army sergeant appearing before a military judge Friday pleaded not guilty in the shootings of five people, including his romantic partner, at a Georgia base where he faces a trial by court-martial in June.
Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, is charged with attempted murder and other crimes in the Aug. 6 shootings at Fort Stewart. The judge presiding over his case, Col. Gregory Batdorff, scheduled Radford’s trial to begin June 15.
Authorities say Radford opened fire with a personal handgun on members of his supply unit at the sprawling Army post in southeast Georgia. They say four soldiers and a civilian worker, who was Radford’s romantic partner, were wounded before fellow soldiers disarmed and restrained Radford until military police arrived.
Radford’s 15-minute arraignment hearing Friday in a Fort Stewart courtroom came a week after Army prosecutors referred his case to a general court-martial, which handles cases involving the most serious crimes under military law.
Army prosecutors have charged Radford with six counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault, with the sixth victim being a person the shooter fired at and missed.
They also charged him with domestic violence. The court document detailing the charges against Radford says one of the shooting victims was his “intimate partner.”
The Army has not released the victims’ names, and they were redacted from a copy of the charging document Army prosecutors released after the hearing Friday. Fort Stewart officials have declined to comment on what led to the shooting.
The charging document says three of the victims suffered “grievous bodily harm,” two of them from gunshot wounds to the chest, the other from being shot in the abdomen.
Under military law, attempted murder carries a potential penalty of life imprisonment.
Radford waived his right to an investigative hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury, to determine if there was sufficient evidence to send his case to a court-martial. Presiding remotely by teleconference, the judge pressed Radford in court Friday on whether he understood that he had given up the right to challenge his accusers before going to trial.
“Yes, your honor,” the accused sergeant replied.
Radford’s military defense attorneys deferred making a decision on whether the judge or a jury of fellow soldiers will weigh the evidence at his trial and render a verdict.
Since the shootings, Radford has been held in pretrial confinement at a Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina.
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.
