After an Army sergeant opened fire with his personal firearm at Fort Stewart, Georgia, on Wednesday, wounding five others, six unarmed soldiers tackled the gunman, subdued him and tended to the wounded.
On Thursday, the soldiers who intervened in the attack were recognized and awarded medals for their “heroism” and “selfless service,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said at a Fort Stewart press briefing.
Master Sgt. Justin Thomas, a senior enlisted maintenance supervisor and Sgt. Aaron Turner, an automated logistical specialist, worked together to restrain the shooter.
1st Sgt. Joshua Arnold, a senior enlisted maintenance supervisor, helped stop the bleeding of a wounded soldier while Staff Sgt. Robert Pacheco and Sgt. Eve Rodarte, both combat medics, provided critical medical care. Staff Sgt. Melissa Taylor, a career counselor, helped “secure the scene” for emergency services to transport wounded soldiers to the hospital.
“They are the best among us in our country. They are the best among us in the Army,” Driscoll said. “They acted in a way that I think all of us hoped we would under fire, but they did. We are just so incredibly proud of them. We are so grateful for them.”
The six soldiers received Meritorious Service Medals for stopping the shooter, who has been identified as Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, an automated logistical specialist with the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team.
“One of the things that I can say unequivocally is that the fast action of these soldiers under stress and under trauma and under fire, absolutely saved lives from being lost,” Driscoll said.
Five soldiers were evacuated to nearby hospitals and three required surgery, officials said after the shooting. Three of the injured soldiers have been released from the hospital.
Brig Gen. John Lubas, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said Thursday that the actions soldiers took, “primarily stopping that bleeding,” for those injured in the shooting, “certainly saved their lives.”
One soldier remains an inpatient at Winn Army Community Hospital on Fort Stewart.
“She’s doing very well in high spirits,” Lubas said. “She’s got a little bit of a road to recovery. We’re hopeful she may be released as early as this weekend, but that will just depend on how things heal up over the next couple days.”
A fifth soldier remains at Savannah Memorial Community Hospital in Georgia.
“The doctors are very positive,” Lubas said. “I think it’s going to take her a bit longer to recover, but they’re very hopeful she’s going to make a complete recovery.”
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Lt. Col. Angel Tomko, a spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division, said officials would not release the identities of the injured soldiers.
Soldiers on base will be able to meet with counselors as they return to work, officials said.
“People are going to process this and work through this at different rates, and we know we’ve got to keep a very close eye on them. We’re going to wrap our arms around them,” Lubas said. “This demonstrates that we trained internally for the worst-case scenario. Our doctors and our medics and our soldiers responded exactly as we train them to do. Now our job is to make sure that we care for them as they work through this.”
The shooting took place in a section on the north side of the base occupied by the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team. Officials have not given details on the events that unfolded leading up to the shooting.
After the incident was reported, it triggered responses from emergency services and the installation went into a full lockdown. Within 13 minutes, ambulances and police were on scene and then a SWAT team from off base arrived within 20 minutes, Lubas said.
Radford used a personal weapon, which are not permitted on base.
Ryan O’Connor, Army Criminal Investigation Division’s special agent in charge, said Radford is in custody and will go through the Uniform Code of Military Justice process. It’s likely that Radford will be transferred to a military detention facility, he said.
Army investigators are still processing the scene with digital, forensic and trace evidence, O’Connor said. He did not say whether there was video footage of the incident.
