HINESVILLE, Ga. – Authorities are conducting an investigation following the tragic death of a family at Fort Stewart Hunter Army Airfield on Nov. 15. The base’s public affairs office made the announcement on Thursday, shedding light on the incident that has left the community in shock. According to a social media post from Fort Stewart, the base’s law enforcement responded to an “incident in on-post housing” at approximately 5:20 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
Kevin Larson, the chief of public communications at the public affairs office, declined to disclose the precise number of deceased individuals, the cause of death, or how the military was alerted to the situation. However, a subsequent social media post from Fort Stewart identified the deceased as “one female Soldier, her male spouse, and their two children.” The family was discovered in their residence on the base, following a welfare check request from the soldier’s unit. Subsequently, police found them unresponsive, and they were pronounced dead around 5:30 p.m.
The identities of the deceased will not be disclosed until their next of kin have been notified, Larson stated. Both the social media post and Larson stressed, “there is no reason to believe that there is an extended threat to our community.” The incident is now under investigation by Fort Stewart law enforcement and the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, with no further information to be released at this time due to the ongoing nature of the inquiry.
Fort Stewart, located about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, Georgia, spans 280,000 acres and serves as the largest Army base east of the Mississippi River. This tragic event marks another blow for the base, as it has faced similar incidents in the past. In 2022, a soldier at Fort Stewart was fatally shot inside the base’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team complex. This latest incident has once again cast a shadow of grief and concern over the community at Fort Stewart.