ATLANTA: Five US soldiers were shot and wounded at the Fort Stewart base in the state of Georgia on Wednesday, and the suspected shooter is in custody, Army officials said.

The soldiers were treated on site and then transported to Winn Army Community Hospital for further treatment, Fort Stewart said in a Facebook post. Authorities did not immediately provide further details on the condition of the victims.

“There is no active threat to the community,” the post said.

Law enforcement responded to reports of a shooting in the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team area at 10:56am, and the base was locked down shortly after 11:04am The suspect was arrested at 11:35am, Fort Stewart said.

The Army did not offer details about the suspect, including whether he or she is a soldier. Governor Brian Kemp wrote on X that he and his family were “saddened by today’s tragedy” at the base.

“We are keeping the victims, their families, and all those who answer the call to serve in our hearts and prayers, and we ask that Georgians everywhere do the same,” he added.

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting and is monitoring the situation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X.

Mass shootings are relatively common in the US, where guns are widely available, and military bases, which are among the highest-security places in the country, have not been spared.

The deadliest was at the Fort Hood Army base in 2009, when a major fatally shot unarmed soldiers in a medical building with a laser-sighted handgun, killing 13 people and injuring more than 30.

Less than five years later, a soldier at the same Texas base fatally shot three service members and injured 16 others before killing himself.

In 2013, an employee of a government defense contractor killed 12 people at Washington’s Navy Yard.

In 2019, a Saudi Air Force lieutenant shot and killed three people and wounded eight others at a US Navy base in Pensacola, Florida.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2025