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 declared 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 agents disclosed All the casualties who are between the ages of and are expected to survive one was treated and published from the hospital two are in serious condition and the rest are in fair condition mentioned Dr Thomas Schermerhorn chief healthcare officer at Munson Clinical 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 explained Sunday He is set to be arraigned early this week and faces life in prison representatives revealed 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 stated 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 informed 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 noted 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 revealed 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 announced 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 declared Another bystander who Kolakowski later learned is also a Marine drew a gun on the attacker The other Marine advised me that he just went shooting at a range and he forgot to take his pistol off his hip Kolakowski declared That s what it all came down to Ultimately the attacker dropped the knife and Kolakowski who communicated 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 stated When Kolakowski described the officer he was a former Marine the officer handed him particular first aid supplies and solicited him to help He assisted police in treating the wounded applying tourniquets to stabbing casualties 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 revealed It was quite the rush In the meantime O Brien disclosed 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 disclosed 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 feasible motive will be part of the scrutiny the sheriff explained 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 commented I m not without delay 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 crisis 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 numerous still clad in their blue vests and name tags as the response shifted into an evolving analysis Tiffany DeFell communicated 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 noted Outcry over random attack in small population Residents of Traverse City a small society 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 report 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 Personnel and residents are expressing shock that such an attack happened in the group of about that s known for its beaches wineries and annual cherry festival We ll continue working closely with law enforcement during their review he added Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer lamented the horrible news of the attack and reported Our thoughts are with the casualties and the society reeling from this brutal act of violence O Brien one of the bystanders explained he still can t understand what would drive someone to commit that kind of violence The guy that had the gun displayed great restraint because I think everyone else would have pulled the trigger O Brien explained Thank God the other Marine didn t pull the trigger because now the families can literally get justice Kolakowski noted