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A US Army soldier accused of shooting five people Georgia He will be tried in a military court on charges including attempted murder at the base in August, Army prosecutors said Friday.
The charges against Sgt. Cornelius Radford is being referred to a general court-martial, which handles cases involving the most serious crimes under military law, the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel said in a news release.
Authorities say Radford fired a personal handgun at members of his supply unit at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia on Aug. 6, wounding four soldiers and a civilian worker before fellow soldiers were able to disarm and restrain him until military police arrived. The army initially said that all five victims were soldiers.
A week after the shooting, Army prosecutors charged Radford with attempted murder and six counts of aggravated assault, with the sixth victim being the man at whom the shooter fired and missed.
Prosecutors also charged Radford with domestic violence because one of the victims was his “intimate partner,” Michelle McCaskill, an Army prosecutors’ office spokeswoman, told The Associated Press in August.
It is unknown whether Radford’s partner was among the five injured. The army has not released the names of the victims.
Radford waived a preliminary hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury, to determine whether there was enough evidence to send his case to a court-martial. Army prosecutors say the next step will be to assign responsibility for the case to a military judge and schedule pre-trial proceedings.
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.
Fort Stewart officials have declined to comment on the motive for the shooting.
Under military law, attempted murder carries a possible sentence of life imprisonment.
The largest army post in the east of Mississippi RiverFort 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 served as a supply sergeant in the division’s 2nd Armored Brigade. Army records show he was recruited in 2018.
Soldiers from Radford’s unit said they heard gunshots in the hallway of an office building, where they found gun smoke in the air and injured people on the floor and in nearby offices.
Brig. General John Lubas, commander of the 3rd Infantry, was credited with saving lives by immediately providing first aid to the soldiers, in some cases using his bare hands as they bled from gunshot wounds.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll visited Fort Stewart the day after the shooting and presented Meritorious Service Medals to six soldiers who helped capture the gunman and treat the victims.