The US Army sergeant accused of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Georgia’s Fort Stewart base reportedly sent an ominous text to a relative right before the shooting — warning that he’d be in a “better place” soon.
Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, is accused of shooting five soldiers at the Army base Wednesday before he was quickly tackled by other troops, officials said.
In the lead up to the violence, Radford had apparently fired off a text to an aunt saying that “he loved everybody and that he’ll be in a better place because he was about to go and do something,” The New York Times reported.
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, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. APAuthorities are still probing a motive for the shooting and refused to speculate on what could have triggered Radford — an active-duty sergeant specializing in automated logistics.
His father, Eddie Radford, told the Times that the sergeant had recently been trying to get a transfer and had complained to his family in the past of racism at the base where he’d been stationed for years.
He added that his son didn’t have a history of serious mental illness but had struggled in the past with depression after his mom died when he was a child.
Radford, who enlisted in 2018 and was stationed at Fort Stewart since 2022, allegedly opened fire on the base with a personal handgun shortly before 11 a.m., authorities said.
The five soldiers he’s accused of shooting – who were coworkers in his unit — were all expected to survive, according to the base’s commander, Brig. Gen. John Lubas.
“I don’t have reason to believe that it had anything to do with a training event,” Lubas said.
Five US soldiers were wounded in a mass shooting at Fort Stewart, Georgia. WJCL
Brig. Gen. John Lubas, commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division, speaks during a press conference following the attack. Richard Burkhart-Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network via Imagn Images“Other than that, I can’t state the motivations for this soldier.”
Lubas, too, gave little information about Radford’s background.
He did reveal, though, that the suspect had a prior drunken-driving arrest, which was unknown to the chain of command until after the shooting when officials “started looking into the law enforcement databases.”
Quornelius Radford was arrested for driving under the influence in May. Liberty County Sheriff's OfficeRadford was due to face an Aug. 20 hearing in Hinesville, a small town near the base, for allegedly driving under the influence and running a red light just after 1 a.m. on May 18, according to a citation and court filing.
He was given a blood test and freed on a $1,818 bond, the documents said.
