Army sergeant shot 5 soldiers before he was tackled and arrested at Fort Stewart, officials say

FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — A sergeant shot five soldiers Wednesday at one the country’s largest Army bases before he was quickly tackled by other Fort Stewart troops, forcing a brief lockdown, officials said.

Few details were immediately available about what led to the gunfire, but officials said the shooter was Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, who used a personal handgun, not a military firearm.

Radford opened fire where he worked but officials wouldn’t speculate about a motive, authorities said.

The injured soldiers are stable and expected to recover, said Brig Gen. John Lubas. The soldiers who tackled Radford helped ensure his arrest, said Lubas, who commands the 3rd Infantry Division.

“These soldiers, without a doubt, prevented further casualties or wounded,” he said.

This latest act of violence on a U.S. military installation — sites that are supposed to be among the most secure in the country — again raised concerns about safety and security within the armed forces’ own walls.

The Army said it's investigating the shooting. There were still many unanswered questions, including the scope of the injuries and the shooter's motive.

The injured were taken to the hospital and three underwent surgery, officials said.

A telephone number listed for Radford in public records rang unanswered.

Army records released to The Associated Press show that Radford enlisted in January 2018. He worked as a supply sergeant and has not been deployed.

Radford faced an Aug. 20 hearing in Hinesville, a small town near the base, on accusations of driving under the influence and running a red light just after 1 a.m. on May 18, according to a citation and court filing. He was given a blood test and freed on a $1,818 bond, the documents said.

Attorney Sneh Patel is representing Radford in the traffic case but not the shooting as of Wednesday, he said in an email. He cited attorney-client privilege in declining to comment about any his conversations with Radford.

Law enforcement was sent to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team complex shortly before 11 a.m. The shooter was arrested at 11:35 a.m., officials said.

The lockdown lasted about an hour. After it was lifted, cars began to move through the normal security checkpoint at the fort’s main gate.

The Army’s 2nd Armored 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 (64 kilometers) southwest of Savannah, Fort Stewart is the largest Army post east of the Mississippi River by land area. It’s home to thousands of soldiers assigned to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and family members.

President Donald Trump called the shooter a “horrible person” in comments to reporters at the White House.

The FBI was at the fort to help investigate, said Deputy Director Dan Bongino.

Among the deadliest acts of violence on U.S. military bases was a 2009 attack. A U.S. Army psychiatrist killed 13 people in a shooting that left more than 30 wounded at Fort Hood, a military installation in Texas.

In 2013, a defense contract worker and former Navy reservist killed 12 people at Washington Navy Yard. He was then killed in a gun battle with police.

In 2014, a soldier opened fire on his fellow service members at Fort Hood, killing three people and wounding more than a dozen others before the gunman killed himself.

In 2019, an aviation student opened fire in a classroom at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, killing three people and injuring another dozen people including two sheriff’s deputies. Just days earlier, a U.S. Navy sailor shot two people to death before killing himself at Pearl Harbor, the Naval station in Hawaii.

Catalini contributed from Trenton, New Jersey; and Associated Press writers Jeff Martin and Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Mike Balsamo, Konstantin Toropin and Mike Pesoli in Washington, D.C.; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.

A sign welcoming people to Fort Stewart in Georgia is seen on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

This booking photo provided by the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office shows Sgt. Quornelius Radford, who is accused of shooting multiple soldiers at Fort Stewart, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (Liberty County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Georgia, is shown on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Georgia, is shown on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

This image from video provided by the U.S. Army via DVIDS shows the entrance to Fort Stewart in Georgia on Nov. 18, 2021. (Staff Sgt. Daniel Guerrero/U.S. Army via AP)

In this image taken from video, Brig Gen. John Lubas speaks during a news conference about the shooting that occurred earlier in the day at the Fort Stewart Army post at Fort Stewart, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (WJCL via AP)

A sign welcoming people to Fort Stewart in Georgia is seen on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

This booking photo provided by the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office shows Sgt. Quornelius Radford, who is accused of shooting multiple soldiers at Fort Stewart, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (Liberty County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Georgia, is shown on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Georgia, is shown on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

This image from video provided by the U.S. Army via DVIDS shows the entrance to Fort Stewart in Georgia on Nov. 18, 2021. (Staff Sgt. Daniel Guerrero/U.S. Army via AP)

Marshall Gate at Fort Stewart in Georgia is seen on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

In this image taken from video, Brig Gen. John Lubas speaks during a news conference about the shooting that occurred earlier in the day at the Fort Stewart Army post at Fort Stewart, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (WJCL via AP)

A sign welcoming people to Fort Stewart in Georgia is seen on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

This booking photo provided by the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office shows Sgt. Quornelius Radford, who is accused of shooting multiple soldiers at Fort Stewart, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (Liberty County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Georgia, is shown on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Georgia, is shown on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

This image from video provided by the U.S. Army via DVIDS shows the entrance to Fort Stewart in Georgia on Nov. 18, 2021. (Staff Sgt. Daniel Guerrero/U.S. Army via AP)

Sgt. Quornelius Radford, a suspect in the shooting of five soldiers at Fort Stewart, is escorted by military police into a booking room at the Liberty County Jail in Hinesville, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Lewis M. Levine)

Marshall Gate at Fort Stewart in Georgia is seen on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

In this image taken from video, Brig Gen. John Lubas speaks during a news conference about the shooting that occurred earlier in the day at the Fort Stewart Army post at Fort Stewart, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (WJCL via AP)

A sign welcoming people to Fort Stewart in Georgia is seen on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

This booking photo provided by the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office shows Sgt. Quornelius Radford, who is accused of shooting multiple soldiers at Fort Stewart, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (Liberty County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Georgia, is shown on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Georgia, is shown on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

This image from video provided by the U.S. Army via DVIDS shows the entrance to Fort Stewart in Georgia on Nov. 18, 2021. (Staff Sgt. Daniel Guerrero/U.S. Army via AP)

LONDON (AP) — Laws that will make it illegal to create online sexual images of someone without their consent are coming into force soon in the U.K., officials said Thursday, following a global backlash over the use of Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok to make sexualized deepfakes of women and children.

Musk's company, xAI, announced late Wednesday that it has introduced measures to prevent Grok from allowing the editing of photos of real people to portray them in revealing clothing in places where that is illegal.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the move, and said X must “immediately” ensure full compliance with U.K. law. He stressed that his government will remain vigilant on any transgressions by Grok and its users.

“Free speech is not the freedom to violate consent," Starmer said Thursday. “I am glad that action has now been taken. But we’re not going to let this go. We will continue because this is a values argument.”

The chatbot, developed by Musk's company xAI and freely accessed through his social media platform X, has faced global scrutiny after it emerged that it was used in recent weeks to generate thousands of images that “undress” people without their consent. The digitally-altered pictures included nude images as well as depictions of women and children in bikinis or in sexually explicit poses.

Critics have said laws regulating generative AI tools are long overdue, and that the U.K. legal changes should have been brought into force much sooner.

A look at the problem and how the U.K. aims to tackle it:

Britain's media regulator has launched an investigation into whether X has breached U.K. laws over the Grok-generated images of children being sexualized or people being undressed. The watchdog, Ofcom, said such images — and similar productions made by other AI models — may amount to pornography or child sexual abuse material.

The problem stemmed from the launch last year of Grok Imagine, an AI image generator that allows users to create videos and pictures by typing in text prompts. It includes a so-called “spicy mode” that can generate adult content.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall cited a report from the internet Watch Foundation saying the deepfake images included sexualization of 11-year-olds and women subjected to physical abuse.

“The content which has circulated on X is vile. It is not just an affront to decent society, it is illegal,” she said.

Authorities said they are making legal changes to criminalize those who use or supply “nudification” tools.

First, the government says it is fast-tracking provisions in the Data (Use and Access) Act making it a criminal offense to create or request deepfake images. The act was passed by Parliament last year, but had not yet been brought into force.

The legislation is set to come into effect on Feb. 6

“Let this be a clear message to every cowardly perpetrator hiding behind a screen: you will be stopped and when you are, make no mistake that you will face the full force of the law,” Justice Secretary David Lammy said

Separately, the government said it is also criminalizing “nudification” apps as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.

The new criminal offense will make it illegal for companies to supply tools designed to create non-consensual intimate images. Kendall said this would “target the problem at its source.”

The investigation by Ofcom is ongoing. Kendall said X could face a fine of up to 10% of its qualifying global revenue depending on the investigation’s outcome and a possible court order blocking access to the site.

Starmer has faced calls for his government to stop using X. Downing Street said this week it was keeping its presence on the platform “under review."

Musk insisted Grok complied with the law. “When asked to generate images, it will refuse to produce anything illegal, as the operating principle for Grok is to obey the laws of any given country or state,” he posted on X. “There may be times when adversarial hacking of Grok prompts does something unexpected. If that happens, we fix the bug immediately.”

FILE - Workers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)