5 soldiers were shot at Fort Stewart in Georgia. A suspect is in custody.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Five soldiers were shot Wednesday at Fort Stewart in Georgia, leading to a lockdown at the Army base before the shooter was arrested, officials said.
The conditions of the soldiers and the circumstances of the shooting weren’t immediately clear, nor was the identity of the shooter.
The Army said it's investigating.
The injured were treated and then moved to Winn Army Community Hospital, base officials said in a Facebook post, adding there's no threat to the community.
Some of the wounded were also taken to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, said spokesperson Bryna Gordon. The hospital is the top-level trauma center for coastal Georgia. Gordon said she didn’t know how many people were being taken to the hospital or what their conditions are.
Law enforcement was sent to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team complex shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday. The shooter was arrested at 11:35 a.m., 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 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team's complex was still locked down.
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. It’s 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 Defense.
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
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.
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Associated Press journalists Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey; Jeff Martin and Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Konstantin Toropin and Mike Pesoli in Washington, D.C.; and Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to this report.