Army soldier charged with murdering sergeant from Plum
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FORT STEWART, Ga. — The Army has charged a 28-year-old soldier with murder in the fatal shooting of a sergeant at a Georgia base.
Officials at Fort Stewart identified the suspected gunman Friday as Spc. Shay A. Wilson of Cambria Heights, New York. He has been charged in a military court in the Monday killing of Sgt. Nathan Hillman, 30, of Plum.
Both soldiers served in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division. Fort Stewart officials said in a statement that Wilson used a privately owned gun to shoot Hillman at the 2nd Brigade’s building complex, and that fellow soldiers subdued the gunman and held him for authorities.
No other details have been released. Wilson remains in Army custody and it was not immediately known if he had an attorney who could speak for him.
Hillman grew up in Arizona and lived in Plum for the past five years before being stationed in Georgia, according to his sister-in-law, Brittany Franitti of Plum.
“He and my sister (Nichole) met in Tennessee and fell madly in love,” Franitti said. “Nathan was an amazing guy. He loved telling jokes and loved his family, his daughters and my sister so much.”
The Army post’s statement said Hillman was a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist who joined the Army in February 2015. He had deployed once to Afghanistan and had been awarded two Army Commendation Medals and two Army Achievement Medals.
Hillman joined the 2nd Brigade at Fort Stewart in July 2021.
Fort Stewart, located about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, is the largest Army post east of the Mississippi River.