JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WFLA) – The family of an army sergeant accused of shooting five fellow soldiers at Fort Stewart say they are heartbroken and blind.
Investigators identified the sergeant. 28-year-old Quornelius Radford is someone who believes he fired fire at Georgia Army Base Wednesday morning. Radford’s hometown is Jacksonville, Florida.
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His uncle Joe Mitchell spoke to NBC from Jacksonville and revealed that Radford had sent the final text 20 minutes before the shooting broke out at Fort Stewart.
The text states, “I just want you to know that I love y’all, I try my best as hard as I can. My time is slowly coming to an end. I choose my destiny and faith.
Mitchell said he and the other family members begged Radford to respond by saying, “Are you okay?” And then “Quan, please call me.”
Later, Radford’s family got a call from someone saying they thought they had been killed in the shooting. Only when they turned on the news would they learn that Radford was in fact a suspicious shooter.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Mitchell said. “That’s not Quang, me, my brothers, my mother and the rest of my family grew up and grew up.”
Then the question was, why this happened.
“I’m still asking myself, why? You know, I was just one call,” Mitchell said. “You know, I wish we could talk about it, but it would never have happened. You know, but just put it in God’s hands.”
When asked if Radford was dealing with mental health issues, his uncle said he faced several difficulties, including the deaths of his three families. But Mitchell said he never saw a warning sign that Radford could do something like this.
“Never,” Mitchell said. “He was a smile and Kuan, who helped us and helped me and my wife take care of our children.”
Mitchell says he is hurting him knowing he can’t help his nephew, and he expresses deep sympathy for the family of the five victims.
“Sorry, I know what I’m saying. I wish I could talk to him,” Mitchell said. “Man, I might have helped him, and this could have been avoided. I’m deeply, deeply sorry.”
Authorities said Thursday that three of the five casualties had been released from hospital. The two were still undergoing treatment.
Radford was booked at the Liberty County Jail. The Army continued to investigate Friday’s shooting, with many questions remaining unanswered, including possible motives and the extent of the injury.
