The December 2024 shooting killed Army Sgt. Andre Stewart Jr. and sent authorities searching nearly 180 miles from the military installation.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A shooting inside military housing brought part of a Georgia Army post to a standstill on a Saturday morning, sending residents indoors and law enforcement officers searching for an Army National Guard soldier who had driven away from the installation.
The search ended about three hours later on Interstate 85, nearly 180 miles from the post. The criminal case reached a decisive point on June 11, 2026, when Natravien R. Landry pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence in the death of U.S. Army Sgt. Andre S. Stewart Jr.
Landry, now 27, faces a minimum of 10 years and as much as life in federal prison. The plea agreement also allows substantial financial penalties and a period of supervised release after imprisonment. U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall will set a sentencing hearing after federal probation officials complete a presentence investigation. No date had been announced as of Monday.
The emergency began early Dec. 14, 2024, in an apartment on the installation, then called Fort Eisenhower and now named Fort Gordon. Landry had reported for duty with the 1148th Transportation Company that morning. During a break, prosecutors said, he went to the residence of a woman with whom he shares a child. Landry noticed a vehicle outside and suspected another man was in the apartment, according to court documents and testimony summarized by federal prosecutors. He entered the residence and went upstairs. In a bedroom, he found Stewart and two children. Prosecutors said Landry knew Stewart did not have a weapon but shot him once in the chest.
The gunshot changed the situation from a disturbance in family housing into an installation-wide security concern. Commanders ordered a lockdown that lasted about two hours. Fort officials said later that the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident, but Landry had already left the post, requiring military and civilian agencies to locate him and determine whether he posed a continuing threat.
Stewart was pronounced dead at the apartment, prosecutors said. An affidavit filed by an Army investigator shortly after the shooting alleged that Landry also struck Stewart with the handgun during the confrontation. The document said Stewart came out of the bedroom after being wounded and fell on the stairs. Officials released only limited information while the search and initial investigation were underway.
Landry drove away from the installation, heading west from the Augusta area. About three hours later, Meriwether County sheriff’s deputies stopped him on Interstate 85 south of Atlanta. The distance between the base and the arrest site widened the number of agencies involved and moved the search far beyond the immediate military community.
Authorities said Landry threw a handgun from the vehicle when he was stopped. Deputies recovered the weapon, identified as a 9 mm Glock pistol. Laboratory testing later established that it was used in Stewart’s shooting. Investigators also found Landry’s military uniform in the vehicle. Landry then admitted during a rights-advised interview that he had shot Stewart, according to the Army investigator’s affidavit.
The U.S. Marshals Service took Landry into custody after the traffic stop and transported him to the Lincoln County Jail. He made his first federal court appearance Dec. 16, 2024, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps. At that point, Landry was charged by complaint with murder and retained the presumption of innocence attached to every criminal accusation.
Two days later, Epps ordered Landry to remain in federal custody while the case continued. Landry waived his right to a preliminary hearing, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia. The Army Criminal Investigation Division continued assembling the case, while federal prosecutors prepared to pursue charges arising from a killing committed on federal property.
The location shaped both the response and the prosecution. A violent incident in on-post housing is not handled solely as a local police matter. Military law enforcement secures the installation and investigates the scene, while federal prosecutors can bring charges in U.S. District Court. Local officers may become central participants when a suspect travels outside the post, as happened when Meriwether County deputies stopped Landry.
The lockdown also affected a large and strategically important Army community. Fort Gordon sits beside Augusta and supports soldiers, civilian workers and military families. The installation houses the Army Cyber Center of Excellence and is closely associated with communications and cyber operations. Although authorities called the killing isolated, commanders had to act before they knew where Landry was or whether the danger had ended.
At the time of the shooting, the post was officially named Fort Eisenhower. It later returned to the Fort Gordon name, creating two names in public records about the same case. The charging announcements from December 2024 refer to Fort Eisenhower, while the Justice Department’s June 2026 plea announcement uses Fort Gordon. Both identify the same Army installation near Augusta. The case also moved from an accusation based on an investigator’s probable-cause account to an admission in court. Early records described what witnesses and investigators said had happened. Those allegations included Landry’s arrival during a duty break, his entry into the apartment, the bedroom confrontation, the shooting, his departure from the base and the recovery of the handgun after the traffic stop.
By pleading guilty, Landry accepted criminal responsibility without requiring a trial. He admitted second-degree murder in Stewart’s death and the related firearm offense. Prosecutors said the plea “acknowledges the defendant’s responsibility,” while Army CID described it as the result of coordinated investigative and prosecutorial work.
The second-degree murder charge carries the possibility of life imprisonment. The firearm conviction also affects the punishment Landry faces under the plea agreement. The Justice Department said he cannot receive a sentence below 10 years. Because the case is in the federal system, any prison term imposed will not include eligibility for parole.
The sentencing process remains separate from the guilty plea. Probation officers will prepare a report for Judge Hall, who will consider the established facts, federal law, applicable sentencing guidance and information submitted by the parties. The court may also receive statements addressing the effects of Stewart’s death before deciding the final punishment. Federal officials credited Army CID, Meriwether County deputies, the U.S. Marshals Service and prosecutors in the Southern District of Georgia. Criminal Division Chief Patricia G. Rhodes and Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry W. Syms Jr. handled the prosecution, according to the Justice Department.
The lockdown ended the day of the shooting, but the criminal proceedings continued for roughly 18 months before the guilty pleas. Landry remains in federal custody while the presentence investigation proceeds. Stewart’s killing is no longer an unresolved allegation; the remaining question before the court is the sentence Landry will receive.
Author note: Last updated July 13, 2026.