Fort Stewart shooting suspect was a hard worker who had been bullied over his stutter, Army soldiers say

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.

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.