How bystanders cornered the suspect in the Michigan Walmart stabbing

CNN 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 disclosed The suspect -year-old Bradford James Gille of Afton Michigan had entered the store at p m and waited inside for minutes before carrying out the attack using a foldable knife bureaucrats mentioned All the casualties who are between the ages of and are expected to survive one was treated and distributed from the hospital two are in serious condition and the rest are in fair condition announced Dr Thomas Schermerhorn chief physiological officer at Munson Therapeutic 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 counts of assault with intent to murder Shea mentioned Sunday He is set to be arraigned early this week and faces life in prison bureaucrats noted 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 -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 commented the store erupted into panic as the attacker who had just stabbed several people near the checkout was still on the move Kolakowski a -year-old former Marine disclosed his instincts kicked in He reported 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 declared 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 commented 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 revealed 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 mentioned Another bystander who Kolakowski later learned is also a Marine drew a gun on the attacker The other Marine reported me that he just went shooting at a range and he forgot to take his pistol off his hip Kolakowski mentioned That s what it all came down to Conclusively the attacker dropped the knife and Kolakowski who explained CNN he served in Iraq nearly 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 revealed When Kolakowski described the officer he was a former Marine the officer handed him particular first aid supplies and appealed him to help He assisted police in treating the wounded applying tourniquets to stabbing sufferers 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 commented It was quite the rush In the meantime O Brien revealed he ran back into the store to find the girls who were frightened but safe What they did was amazing Shea announced 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 revealed It appears that these were all random acts Shea noted The casualties were not predetermined and there s no indication of additional subjects the sheriff added Detectives with assistance from the FBI have interviewed Gille at length and determining a viable motive will be part of the scrutiny the sheriff declared 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 announced I m not forthwith 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 Personnel were seen speaking with employees plenty of still clad in their blue vests and name tags as the response shifted into an advancing inquiry Tiffany DeFell reported 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 stated Outcry over random attack in small group Residents of Traverse City a small population 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 declaration 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 Executives and residents are expressing shock that such an attack happened in the area of about that s known for its beaches wineries and annual cherry festival We ll continue working closely with law enforcement during their examination he added Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer lamented the horrible news of the attack and explained Our thoughts are with the casualties and the locality reeling from this brutal act of violence O Brien one of the bystanders announced he still can t understand what would drive someone to commit that kind of violence The guy that had the gun revealed great restraint because I think everyone else would have pulled the trigger O Brien revealed Thank God the other Marine didn t pull the trigger because now the families can really get justice Kolakowski explained