Suspect in Michigan Walmart stabbing faces terrorism and assault charges

WPBN, CNN

By Hanna Park, Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN

(CNN) — After nearly a dozen people were stabbed at a Walmart in Traverse City, Michigan, Saturday afternoon, the quick actions of a couple of Marines and other bystanders helped stop the attacker from causing further harm.

Two of the injured were in serious condition Sunday afternoon, after what police described as a “random” act by a lone attacker. One victim was treated and released, Dr. Thomas Schermerhorn, the chief medical officer at Munson Medical Center, said at a Sunday afternoon news conference. All victims are expected to survive, he added. They range in age from 29 to 84.

“It appears that these were all random acts,” Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said earlier Sunday. “The victims were not predetermined,” and there’s no indication of additional suspects, the sheriff added.

The suspect, identified as 42-year-old Bradford James Gille of Afton, Michigan, faces charges of one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder, Shea said Sunday afternoon. He is set to be arraigned early this week and faces life in prison, officials said.

Around 4:10 p.m., Gille entered the Walmart in Garfield Township and stayed inside until the incident unfolded at 4:45 p.m., the sheriff said. Gille was armed with a “folding knife” and stabbed 11 people in the store’s checkout area, according to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office. One of the victims is a Walmart employee.

A sheriff’s deputy arrived at the scene “within minutes” and took the suspect into custody, the sheriff said. Citizens in Walmart also assisted in the apprehension of the suspect and treatment of victims, he said, without providing details. The suspect was not injured.

“What they did was amazing,” Shea said of the people who stepped in.

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.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she has been in contact with law enforcement about the “horrible news” and commended first responders for their swift action.

Here’s what we know about the brutal, broad-daylight attack.

A family vacation turned to chaos

Matt Kolakowski and his brother-in-law, Chris O’Brien, were in Traverse City for a family vacation along Lake Michigan when their trip took an unexpected turn.

The brothers stopped at Walmart with Kolakowski’s 13-year-old daughter and her friend to pick up supplies for the weekend. As they were checking out, they heard a frantic message.

“He’s got a knife!” Kolakowski heard a store employee yell. Seconds later, he said, the store erupted into mass panic as an attacker, who had just stabbed several people near the checkout, was still on the move.

Kolakowski, a 39-year-old 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, who was still wielding “a huge buck knife.”

“I thought to myself, ‘Well, I don’t got no weapon, so what am I going to do?’ So, I just grabbed an empty grocery cart and just took off after him as hard as I could,” Kolakowski said.

As Kolakowski ran after the attacker, he said he saw the man 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 a shopping cart. He lifted the cart over his head and attempted to slam it down onto the attacker, 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. “His eyes were just bulging out of his head.”

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 a couple of med-packs 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.

“When I walked back in, it was an absolute nightmare,” O’Brien said. “It was blood everywhere.”

O’Brien 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.

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. In the video, taken from a distance, it is unclear whether the man is holding anything or throws a away. 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 stabbing 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.

Eleven victims

Munson Healthcare, a hospital system in northern Michigan, was treating the 11 victims from the stabbing attack, according to a statement on their Facebook page.

Three of the victims underwent surgery after the attack, according to the sheriff, who said the 11 injured include six men and five women.

All of the victims were stabbed, Munson spokesperson Megan Brown told the Associated Press.

Investigation underway amid outcry over random attack in small community

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.

Walmart corporate spokesperson Joe Pennington condemned the 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.”

“We’ll continue working closely with law enforcement during their investigation,” he added.

Officials and residents are expressing shock that such an attack happened in Traverse City, a community of about 16,000 that’s known for its beaches on Lake Michigan, wineries and cherry festival.

Violence “is very uncommon for our area,” the sheriff said. “But unfortunately … no one is immune to this.”

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.

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.”

Traverse City is home to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, who live there with their children.

“Along with the whole Traverse City community, Chasten and I are shaken by the awful and senseless violence at Walmart earlier today,” Buttigieg said on X. “We’re thinking of everyone affected and hoping and praying for speedy recovery for all those who were injured.”

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CNN’s Zoe Sottile, Danya Gainor and Diego Mendoza contributed to this report.