FORT STEWART, Ga. — An unarmed soldier tackled the gunman who opened fire at Fort Stewart before five others leaped into action to subdue the shooter and render lifesaving medical care to victims, officials said Thursday.
Decisive action by Sgt. Aaron Turner and his fellow soldiers quickly brought the suspect, Sgt. Quornelius Samentrio Radford, under control and helped get victims to the hospital in time to save their lives, officials said.
"One of the soldiers tackled the person," Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told reporters.
"So just think about this: They were unarmed and ran at and tackled an armed person who they know knew was actively shooting their buddies, their colleagues, their fellow soldiers. Another soldier jumped on top of the person to subdue them until federal law enforcement was able to arrive."
Turner is an automated logistical specialist from Farmington, New Mexico, the Army said.
Master Sgt. Justin Thomas, a senior enlisted maintenance supervisor from Kingwood, Texas, then helped "Sgt. Turner restrain the assailant, working as a team to prevent additional harm during the dangerous situation," the Army said in a statement.
The Army credited 1st Sgt. Joshua Arnold, Staff Sgt. Melissa Taylor, Sgt. Eve Rodarte and Staff Sgt. Robert Pacheco with rendering immediate medical care to the wounded. Taylor is a career counselor, while Pacheco and Rodarte are both combat medics.
Arnold was in a conference room Wednesday when the late-morning silence was broken by gunshots.
"I stood up, walked out toward the hallway, kind of saw some hazy smoke, had a flash of someone running past my area and looked down the hallway," said Arnold, a senior enlisted maintenance supervisor. "I went toward the smoke."
That's when he came upon the first victim and applied pressure to the wound before Taylor arrived seconds later to render medical treatment to the wounded soldier, Arnold said.
That freed up Arnold to keep searching the building, where he found two more gunshot victims and called for medics.
"So three medics were on these soldiers within minutes," Arnold told NBC News. "They did great."
Driscoll said the actions were crucial to saving lives.
"We talked to doctors, and 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.
All of the victims survived and are expected to recover.
Three of the victims were released from hospitals Wednesday, while two more, both women, were still being treated Thursday, officials said.
One of the still-hospitalized soldiers was "doing very well, in high spirits," at Winn Army Community Hospital and could go home this weekend, said Brig. Gen. John Lubas, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division.
The other victim at Savannah Memorial Community Hospital has "a little bit longer road," but doctors are confident she will make a complete recovery, Lubas said.
Radford, 28, remained in custody Thursday. He joined the Army in January 2018 and is listed as an automated logistical specialist, assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Stewart, records showed.
The Army base is about 40 miles southwest of Savannah.
Priya Sridhar and Dan Gallo reported from Fort Stewart and David K. Li from New York City.
