A Michigan man went on a stabbing spree at a Walmart over the weekend, plunging a 3.5-inch “folding knife” into almost a dozen people before being apprehended by “multiple citizens” in the store’s parking lot, including one armed with a firearm, according to police.
Bradford Gille, 42, of Afton, is charged with one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder after reportedly stabbing 11 people at a Walmart in Garfield Township, according to the Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office.
Julia Martell, a 30-year-old shopper who talked with local NBC affiliates WPBN and WGTU about the afternoon mayhem, said Gille looked to be targeting older consumers who “couldn’t physically get out of his way” and “people in wheelchairs.”
The victim list comprises men and women aged 29 to 84, including three persons in their 80s and a 70-year-old.
“There was blood everywhere,” Martell explained. “There were people kind of sitting at the ends of aisles, just bleeding.”
Police rushed to the Walmart at 5 p.m. Saturday after receiving reports of a stabbing spree from persons on the scene. A gang of “citizens” allegedly stopped Gille in the store’s parking lot.
“A Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Deputy was near the location and arrived at 4:46 pm,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement Sunday. “At the time the deputy arrived, many citizens, including one armed with a weapon, were engaging the male suspect in the parking lot and preventing him from causing further harm or fleeing. The deputy arrested the suspect without more incident.”
According to authorities, a motive for the attack has “not been determined,” and it is unknown whether Gille has told detectives anything during interviews.
“It was very disturbing. “My sister and I were just freaking out,” shopper Tiffany DeFell, 36, told the Associated Press. “This looks like something out of a movie. It’s not what you’d expect to find where you live.”
Steven Carter, a Walmart delivery driver, told the Associated Press that he witnessed a woman’s throat being sliced before Gille was supposedly stopped. “I don’t care, I don’t care,” Gille allegedly told the crew that helped restrain him, according to Carter.
Gille was booked into the Grand Traverse County Jail and was scheduled for arraignment on Sunday.
