The soldier accused of opening fire Wednesday at his Army base in Georgia, wounding five people, had endured relentless bullying over his stutter almost as soon as he joined the military, former co-workers said.
Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, was picked on during the roughly two months in 2018 he spent at the Army’s Advanced Individual Training (AIT) school at Fort Lee in Virginia, according to two people who served with him there.
“He got bullied a lot,” said Sgt. Cameron Barrett, 28, who became friends with Radford during that time. “It was very bad to the point where he could barely talk.”
Barrett said people would mock Radford by also pretending to have a stutter. He said the apparent speech impediment was a “trigger” for Radford, who endured the mocking by being silent.
Still, Radford showed no signs of anger, resentment or deeper issues, Barrett and other fellow soldiers said. And to those who got to know him, the reserved Radford shared a goofier and playful side, they said.
So, they said, the Wednesday morning shooting at Fort Stewart came as a complete shock.
When reports of an active shooter on base first surfaced, Barrett said he sent Radford a message on Snapchat, asking if he was OK.
Radford did not respond. Hours later, Army officials identified Radford as the man suspected of using his personal handgun to allegedly shoot five of his co-workers shortly before 11 a.m.
Radford worked as a logistics sergeant assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which is based at Fort Stewart.
The wounded soldiers were in stable condition Wednesday and are expected to recover. Three of the victims were released from hospitals on Wednesday, while two more, both women, were still being treated on Thursday, officials said.
It’s unclear whether the victims were subordinates or superiors of Radford. Army officials said a motive was unclear, as the investigation is ongoing.
Radford, an automated logistical specialist assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Stewart, was tackled and subdued by fellow soldiers, which ended his alleged shooting rampage.
Radford remained in custody Thursday and has been interviewed by the Army Criminal Investigation Division.
The Jacksonville, Florida, native joined the Army in January 2018 and has not been deployed to combat, records showed.
Some soldiers who met him that year in AIT school were left shocked and confused. They said Radford appeared laid back, despite being teased for his stutter.
“It was easy for those people to make fun of him for the way he spoke,” said Sgt. Carlos Coleman, who was in the same formation as Radford during that training. “After that, he really didn’t speak that much.”
“I just saw him get quiet,” Coleman, 27, added. “I’ve never seen him angry. That’s why I’m so surprised.”
Barrett and Coleman said something else must have happened, since it had been years since the initial military bullying.
“I have questions, too,” Coleman said. “I just want to know what pushed him to that point.”
Coleman, who is now based in Washington state, said he stayed friends with Radford on Facebook and remembers Radford’s last post on Jan. 28, when he expressed deep, residual heartache over losing a loved one in a wrong-way crash.
“I remember I couldn’t speak after hearing that,” Radford wrote, according to a screenshot that Coleman shared with NBC News.
Radford wrote that he cried and drank to “make that pain feeling go away.” He described the loved one as a safe haven and someone who cared deeply about his present and future.
“I know you tried to keep me on a good path when I was hanging out in the streets,” he wrote. “I remember the nights you were scared when I was going down that road and I’m truly sorry for putting you through that.”
Radford’s former co-workers described him as a normal and playful person and a hardworking soldier.
“He was good as a soldier and a person, to me,” Coleman said. “There were never any red flags about him. He did what he was told.”
In a Facebook post that has since been taken down, QuaSondra Cobb, who used to work with Radford, shared a video of the two racing to be the first to eat a Fruit by the Foot snack last year.
“It was lunch time and we were just goofing around,” Cobb told NBC News. “My interactions with him were always like that.”
Cobb, who was Radford’s superior until roughly a year ago, when they both moved to different units, said she was heartbroken and at a loss for words. Radford, she said, didn’t show stress or anger and did not appear to have issues with co-workers.
“I’ve never gotten that from him,” she said. “He was a hard worker. If he had any issues, he would come to me, ask for advice. I just didn’t see that coming.”
Radford’s father, Eddie Radford, could not be reached Thursday and declined to comment Wednesday evening, telling NBC News it was a “bad time” to talk.
The suspect’s father told The New York Times that his son had been trying to transfer out of Fort Stewart, where he had experienced racism.
Eddie Radford said his son texted his aunt Wednesday morning, saying that “he loved everybody, and that he’ll be in a better place because he was about to go and do something,” the Times reported.
