Left inset: Bradford Gille (Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office). Right inset: The folding knife that Bradford Gille allegedly used in his stabbing rampage on Saturday, July 26, in Garfield Township, Mich. (GTSO). Background: The Walmart in Garfield Township, Mich., where Bradford Gille allegedly went on his stabbing spree (Google Maps).
A Michigan man went on a stabbing rampage at a Walmart over the weekend — plunging a 3.5-inch “folding knife” into nearly a dozen people — before being stopped by “multiple citizens” in the store’s parking lot, including one who was armed with a pistol, cops say.
Bradford Gille, 42, of Afton, is facing one charge of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder for allegedly stabbing 11 individuals at a Walmart in Garfield Township, according to the Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office.
Julia Martell, a 30-year-old shopper who spoke to local NBC affiliates WPBN and WGTU about the afternoon mayhem, said it appeared Gille was going after older patrons who “couldn’t physically get out of his way” and “people in wheelchairs.”
The victim list includes men and women between the ages of 29 and 84, including three people in their 80s and a 70-year-old.
“There was blood everywhere,” Martell said. “There were people kind of sitting at the ends of aisles, just bleeding.”
Police responded to the Walmart at around 5 p.m. Saturday after receiving calls about the stabbing spree from people at the scene. A group of “citizens” were said to have 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 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 deputy took the suspect into custody without further incident.”
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According to police, a motive has “not been determined” for the attack and it is unclear whether Gille has said anything to cops in interviews.
“It was really scary. Me and my sister were just freaking out,” said shopper Tiffany DeFell, 36, who spoke to the Associated Press. “This is something you see out of the movies. It’s not what you expect to see where you’re living.”
Steven Carter, a Walmart delivery driver, told the AP that he saw a woman’s throat get cut before Gille was allegedly stopped. “I don’t care, I don’t care,” Gille allegedly told the group that helped subdue him, according to Carter.
Gille was booked at the Grand Traverse County Jail and was awaiting arraignment Sunday.
