Tragedy struck Michigan over the weekend when a suspect stabbed 11 people inside a Walmart — however, multiple people stepped up and confronted the suspect in the parking lot, including a man armed with a gun.
The Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that a man entered the Walmart in Garfield Township just before 5 p.m. Saturday. Garfield Township is about eight minutes south of Traverse City and about two hours north of Grand Rapids.
‘At first, it was disbelief. I thought maybe it was like a terror attack.’
The suspect “used a folding knife to stab 11 people,” according to police.
A sheriff’s deputy was at the crime scene around 4:46 p.m., law enforcement stated.
“At the time of the deputy’s arrival, multiple citizens, including one who was armed with a pistol, were confronting the male suspect in the parking lot and preventing him from harming further people and from leaving,” the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office said. “The deputy took the suspect into custody without further incident.”
Witness Julia Martell told NBC News that the suspect looked “crazed” and that the situation was “surreal.”
“All I know is I saw a knife, and I ran away from the knife, and now I have no idea where the knife is,” Martell said. “I’m still sitting and grappling with the weight of realizing that it was kind of a life-or-death moment.”
Videos also show a group of citizens confronting the suspect in the parking lot of the Walmart. During a press conference, Sheriff Michael Shea noted that one of the Good Samaritans was armed with a gun.
Video from the Walmart parking lot shows the brave citizens approaching the suspect, who was still brandishing a knife with a 3.5-inch blade.
One of the citizens is heard yelling, “Throw the knife that way! Drop it! Throw the knife away!”
Witness Steven Carter told the Associated Press that he was loading his truck in the Walmart parking lot when he saw a man with a knife stab a woman in the throat.
“At first, it was disbelief. I thought maybe it was like a terror attack,” Carter said.
Carter added that the suspect was subdued after someone tackled him to the ground.
“And then it was fear, disbelief, shock. … It was just amazing,” Carter said. “And it all happened fast. Like, he was totally subdued on the ground by the time police arrived.”
The video shows the suspect being detained next to a sheriff’s vehicle.
Witness Tiffany DeFell added to the AP that “it was really scary. Me and my sister were just freaking out. This is something you see out of the movies. It’s not what you expect to see where you’re living.”
Sheriff Shea described the citizens’ actions as “remarkable” and said he “cannot commend” them “enough,” according to WANE-TV.
“When you stop and look from the time of [the] call to the time of actual custody, the individual was detained within one minute,” Shea stressed.
The victims were rushed to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City.
The sheriff’s office listed the 11 stabbing victims as: a 29-year-old female, a 38-year-old male, a 39-year-old male, a 41-year-old male, a 55-year-old male, a 65-year-old female, a 67-year-old female, a 70-year-old male, an 80-year-old female, an 82-year-old male, and an 84-year-old female. Shea said one of the victims was a Walmart employee.
During a press conference, Munson Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tom Schermerhorn revealed that one of the victims had been treated and released, two were in serious condition, and the remainder were in fair condition. All are expected to survive their stab wounds.
Police identified the suspect as 42-year-old Bradford James Gille of Afton, Michigan. He was arrested and transported to the Grand Traverse County Jail.
Police said Gille had a criminal history of “assaultive incidents, as well as controlled substance violations.”
Citing Michigan court records, NBC News reported that Gille’s criminal history included charges for public intoxication, misdemeanor assault and battery, misdemeanor aggravated assault, drug possession, and assault with a dangerous weapon. Court documents said a charge of malicious destruction of tombs and memorials was dismissed after Gille was found to be incompetent to stand trial.
Investigators have yet to determine a motive for the stabbing.
Michigan prosecutors are seeking a terrorism charge against Gille in addition to 11 counts of assault with intent to murder, one for each stabbing victim, according to NBC News.
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