Accused Fort Stewart Gunman Was Bullied, Faced Racism: Reports

FORT STEWART, GA — The family and former coworkers of the accused gunman in the tragic Fort Stewart mass shooting this week revealed new details about his life, including accusations he experienced racism and bullying while in the Army, media reports say.

Authorities arrested Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, of Florida, after accusing him of shooting and injuring five of his coworkers with his personal gun around 11 a.m. Wednesday in the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team area at Fort Stewart Hunter Army Airfield.

He is currently in custody at the Liberty County Jail and will face a military trial, Army officials said at past news conferences. The Office of Special Counsel will determine charges against him.

The five soldiers shot are expected to recover, Army officials previously said. Three of them had been released from the hospital as of Thursday.

Who Is Quornelius Radford?

Although a motive has not been officially revealed, his father told the New York Times that an alarming text message was sent to Radford's aunt prior to the shooting.

Eddie Radford, a 52-year-old Jacksonville, Florida, resident, told the Times that Quornelius Radford messaged his aunt, saying, "he loved everybody, and that he’ll be in a better place because he was about to go and do something."

While at Virginia's Fort Lee, Quornelius Radford endured bullying due to a speech impediment, his former coworkers told NBC News.

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At the time, he reportedly stuttered while attending Advanced Individual Training school for two months. He has served in the Army since 2018 and has never been deployed to combat.

“He got bullied a lot,” Sgt. Cameron Barrett told NBC News. “It was very bad to the point where he could barely talk.”

People would pretend to have a stutter, which bothered Radford, although he remained quiet, Barrett told NBC News.

He reportedly added Quornelius Radford did not display anger or resentment, while Eddie Radford told the Times his son had no known mental health concerns aside from the occasional depression over the loss of his mother while a child.

Quornelius Radford voiced experiencing racism at Fort Stewart and sought a transfer from the Georgia base, his father reportedly said.

Barrett told NBC News that he sent his former coworker a Snapchat messag easking if he was OK after news broke of an active shooter at Fort Stewart, but Quornelius Radford never responded.

Both Eddie Radford and Barrett expressed being stunned by the shooting.

“It’s hard for me to process,” Eddie Radford told the Times.

More tragedy struck Quornelius Radford when a wrong-way crash killed a loved one in January, Sgt. Carlos Coleman told NBC News. Coleman reportedly attended AIT with Quornelius Radford and remained in contact with him through Facebook.

Quornelius Radford became emotional and began drinking to “make that pain feeling go away,” Coleman told NBC News reported.

“I have questions, too,” Coleman told the news outlet, regarding the shooting. “I just want to know what pushed him to that point.”

Prior Arrest

At a news conference post-shooting, Brig. Gen. John Lubas told reporters the Army was not aware that Quornelius Radford had been previously arrested.

The sergeant was accused of driving under the influence around 1 a.m., May 18, 2018 near the intersection of Elma G. Miles Parkway and Sharon Street in Hinesville, USA Today reported, which obtained a police report from the Georgia State Patrol.

At the time, he was driving a Nissan Altima with a Florida tag, USA Today reported.

"I smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath," read the report, per USA Today. "Mr. Radford's eyes were watery and bloodshot."

He reportedly rejected a breathalyzer, a chemical test and a field sobriety test. He did, however, say he had beer hours before being pulled over, USA Today said, citing the police report.

The report stated Quornelius Radford's "speech patterns was mumbled," to which he told authorities that he stuttered, USA Today said, citing the police report.

It was not immediately known if the case was resolved.

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