Fort Stewart: Five soldiers were shot on Wednesday at Fort Stewart in Georgia, prompting a lockdown at the Army base before the shooter was apprehended, officials reported. The specific conditions of the wounded soldiers, as well as the circumstances surrounding the shooting and the shooter’s identity, were not immediately disclosed. The Army has launched an investigation into the incident.

The injured soldiers received initial treatment at the base before being transferred to Winn Army Community Hospital, according to information shared by base officials in a Facebook post. Some of the injured were also transported to Memorial Health University Medical Centre in Savannah, which serves as the region’s top trauma centre. However, the spokesperson for Memorial Health, Bryna Gordon, could not confirm the exact number of casualties brought in or details about their medical conditions.

Law enforcement responded to the 2nd Armoured Brigade Combat Team complex just before 11 a.m. The shooter was arrested at 11:35 a.m., and the lockdown, which lasted about an hour, was lifted shortly after. Despite this, the 2nd Armoured Brigade Combat Team’s complex remains secured. Three schools just outside the base and the fort’s three elementary schools, with nearly 1,400 students, also undertook lockdown measures as a precaution, according to the Liberty County School System and base officials.

Fort Stewart, about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, is the largest U.S. Army post east of the Mississippi River, home to thousands of soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division and their families. The 2nd Armoured Brigade Combat Team, known as the “Spartan Brigade,” was established in 2016 and is recognised as among the Army's most modern land forces.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt noted that President Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation.

The shooting at Fort Stewart adds to a history of violence at U.S. military bases, including incidents at Fort Hood in 2009 and 2014, the Washington Navy Yard in 2013, Naval Air Station Pensacola in 2019, and Pearl Harbour in Hawaii the same year.

With inputs from AP