Five soldiers have been shot at Fort Stewart in Georgia, the US, leading to a lockdown at the army base before the gunman was arrested, officials said.
The US army identified the suspected gunman behind the shooting at Fort Stewart as 28-year-old soldier Quornelius Radford and said it was unsure why he opened fire at five fellow soldiers, who were in stable condition.
Brigadier General John Lubas, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, told reporters at Fort Stewart, in Georgia, that Radford appeared to use a personal handgun at his workplace, and described the wounded soldiers as Radford’s co-workers.
The injured were treated and then moved to Winn Army Community Hospital, base officials said in a Facebook post, adding there is no threat to the community.
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Law enforcement was sent to the 2nd Armoured Brigade Combat Team complex shortly before 11am local time on Wednesday (4pm Irish time).
Radford was arrested at 11.35am, officials said.
The lockdown lasted about an hour, and three schools just outside the base took steps similar to a lockdown as well, “out of an abundance of caution”, the Liberty County School System said.
The army’s 2nd Armoured Brigade Combat Team was created in 2016 when the service added more than 200 vehicles to an infantry unit of roughly 4,200 soldiers.
Also known as the Spartan Brigade, the army has called the unit its “most modern land fighting force”.
Located about 40 miles (64km) southwest of Savannah, Fort Stewart is the largest army post east of the Mississippi river.
It is home to thousands of soldiers assigned to the army’s 3rd Infantry Division and family members.
The fort’s three elementary schools are also on lockdown, community superintendent Brian Perry told WTOC-TV.
The schools have nearly 1,400 students, according to the department of defence. – PA
