How bystanders cornered the suspect in the Michigan Walmart stabbing

Yahoo

17 hours ago

By the time an employee in the checkout area yelled about a man with a knife, it was too late. Nearly a dozen people had been stabbed at the busy Walmart in Traverse City, a tourist town on the shore of Lake Michigan, by a man who appeared to have attacked people at random, the sheriff said.
The suspect, 42-year-old Bradford James Gille of Afton, Michigan, had entered the store at 4:10 p.m. and waited inside for 35 minutes before carrying out the attack using a foldable knife, officials said.
All the victims – who are between the ages of 29 and 84 – are expected to survive; one was treated and released from the hospital, two are in serious condition and the rest are in fair condition, said Dr. Thomas Schermerhorn, chief medical officer at Munson Medical Center.
Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea praised bystanders who cornered the suspect in the parking lot and held him until law enforcement arrived.
Gille faces one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder, Shea said Sunday. He is set to be arraigned early this week and faces life in prison, officials said.
Bystander used grocery cart to help stop suspect
Two of the bystanders who intervened Saturday were Matt Kolakowski and his brother-in-law, Chris O'Brien, who were in Traverse City for a family vacation and shopping at the Walmart for supplies for weekend.
The men were there with Kolakowski's 13-year-old daughter and her friend. As they were checking out, they heard a frantic warning.
'He's got a knife!' Kolakowski heard a store employee yell. Seconds later, he said, the store erupted into panic as the attacker, who had just stabbed several people near the checkout, was still on the move.
Kolakowski, a 39-year-old former Marine, said his instincts kicked in. He told his daughter and her friend to stay put, and he and O'Brien took off after the suspect.
Kolakowski didn't have any kind of weapon on him, but he grabbed an empty grocery cart.
As he ran, Kolakowski said he saw the attacker stab another man in the shoulder and an elderly woman in the back while fleeing the store.
In the parking lot, Kolakowski said he rammed the attacker in the ankle with the cart. He lifted the cart over his head and attempted to slam it down onto the man, who scrambled away before he was hit.
Kolakowski said he and others pursued the man as he weaved between large poles and cars in the parking lot.
'He was screaming something about him being a soldier, and that everybody in Walmart were bad people,' Kolakowski said.
Another bystander, who Kolakowski later learned is also a Marine, drew a gun on the attacker.
'The other Marine told me that he just went shooting at a range, and he forgot to take his pistol off his hip,' Kolakowski said. 'That's what it all came down to.'
Finally, the attacker dropped the knife, and Kolakowski – who told CNN he served in Iraq nearly 20 years ago – held him down until help arrived.
'I just turned into somebody that I haven't been in a long time and just stayed on top of him until the deputy ran up and jumped on top of him with a rifle in his face, and I helped the deputy arrest him,' he said.
When Kolakowski told the officer he was a former Marine, the officer handed him some first aid supplies and asked him to help. He assisted police in treating the wounded, applying tourniquets to stabbing victims who were still in shock.
'It was just mass panic in the parking lot – ambulances, lights everywhere, sirens everywhere, blood everywhere, people getting loaded up on carts, put in ambulances,' Kolakowski said. 'It was quite the rush.'
In the meantime, O'Brien said he ran back into the store to find the girls, who were frightened but safe.
'What they did was amazing,' Shea said of the people who stepped in.
What we know about the suspect and motive
The motive behind the attack is unknown, but the stabbings appeared to be random, Shea said.
'It appears that these were all random acts,' Shea said 'The victims were not predetermined,' and there's no indication of additional suspects, the sheriff added.
Detectives, with assistance from the FBI, have interviewed Gille at length, and determining a possible motive will be part of the investigation, the sheriff said.
It is unclear what Gille was doing in Traverse City, but there were indications he may have previously lived in the county and was 'somewhat familiar with the area,' Shea said. 'I'm not immediately aware of exactly why he came back here, or why he went to Walmart,' the sheriff added.
Video shows the standoff with the attacker
CNN obtained video of the confrontation with the attacker in the parking lot, showing several people yelling at him to 'throw the knife' away and lie on the ground. The video also appears to show several people attending to a victim nearby.
Outside the Walmart, part of a larger shopping complex, emergency vehicles lined the parking lot as first responders secured the scene, according to video footage obtained by The Associated Press. Authorities were seen speaking with employees, many still clad in their blue vests and name tags, as the response shifted into an active investigation.
Tiffany DeFell, 36, told the AP she was in the parking lot when the chaos around the attack erupted.
'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,' she said.
Outcry over random attack in small community
Residents of Traverse City, a small community on the shore of Lake Michigan, are now left grappling with what the sheriff called a 'very uncommon' act of violence in the area.
Walmart corporate spokesperson Joe Pennington condemned Saturday's attack, saying in a statement to CNN, 'Violence like this is unacceptable. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and we're thankful for the swift action of first responders.'
Officials and residents are expressing shock that such an attack happened in the community of about 16,000 that's known for its beaches, wineries and annual cherry festival.
'We'll continue working closely with law enforcement during their investigation,' he added.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lamented the 'horrible news' of the attack and said, 'Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence.'
O'Brien, one of the bystanders, said he still can't understand what would drive someone to commit that kind of violence.
'The guy that had the gun showed great restraint, because I think everyone else would have pulled the trigger,' O'Brien said.
'Thank God the other Marine didn't pull the trigger, because now the families can actually get justice,' Kolakowski said.
CNN's Zoe Sottile, Danya Gainor and Diego Mendoza contributed to this report.