- - Michigan Walmart stabbing: 11 wounded; suspect faces terror, attempted murder charges

John Bacon and Clara Hendrickson, USA TODAY July 27, 2025 at 4:38 PM

TRAVERSE CITY, MI − Authorities said they will file terrorism and attempted murder charges against a Michigan man accused of wounding 11 people in a stabbing rampage at a local Walmart.

Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said July 27 that bystanders were "absolutely instrumental" in preventing further injuries after the attack began July 26 at about 4:43 p.m. − a busy time for the sprawling store. One of the citizens who stepped in was armed with a gun, Shea said.

"I commend them, it's not very often we have citizens that are willing to step up and take action," Shea said at a briefing July 27.

Shea identified the suspect as Bradford James Gille, 42, and said charges would include one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder. Shea said Gille has a history of "assaultive type allegations as well as controlled substance." He said no motive had been determined, but that the FBI and local investigators were interviewing the suspect.

County Prosecutor, Noelle Moeggenberg, said arraignment was expected July 28 or 29. She said the terrorism charge was because the attack was a "very random act of violence... to put fear in the entire community, to change how we operate on a daily basis."

Shea said emergency calls began coming in at 4:43 pm. from the Walmart in Garfield Township. A deputy arrived at 4:46. to find "multiple citizens including one who was armed with a pistol were confronting the male suspect in the parking lot," preventing him from stabbing more people and from leaving. The deputy took the suspect into custody without further incident, Shea said.

Condition of those wounded improves

Nine of the stabbings took place in the store, one in the vestibule and one outside the store, Shea said. He said he believed all the incidents were "to some degree" captured on video and that the video was being studied.

Six people were initially listed as critically injured and five were in serious condition, Munson Healthcare said in a social media post. At the briefing, however, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Tom Schermerhorn said one person had been released, two remained in serious condition and the others were in fair condition.

Stabbing spree at Michigan Walmart leaves 11 injured, six critically

More than 10 police cars sit in the Walmart parking lot in Traverse City, Michigan, after a mass stabbing incident left 11 injured.Bystander tackled suspect

Steven Carter told The he was loading his truck in the Walmart parking lot when he saw a man cut a woman’s throat. Minutes later, the man was surrounded by several shoppers in the parking lot, including one who was holding a gun, Carter said.

The group repeatedly yelled to the man “drop the knife,” Carter said, adding that the man responded: “I don’t care, I don’t care.” Someone tackled and subdued him, Carter said.

“At first, it was disbelief. I thought maybe it was like a terror attack,” said Carter, who delivers customer orders from Walmart. “And then it was fear, disbelief, shock. And that was, it was just amazing. And it all happened fast. Like he was totally subdued on the ground by the time police arrived.”

Fleeing the suspect, 'blood everywhere'

Julia Martell told the New York Times she was in the canned vegetables aisle when she heard screams and saw a man with a knife run through the pharmacy and elsewhere, shoving and stabbing people before he started running toward her. She ran, but the man didn’t follow her and instead turned back toward the store entrance, she said.

She saw three people with stab wounds as she fled the store. There was “blood everywhere,” she said.

Angela Helfrich, shopping with her fiancé, told clickondetroit.com she saw bystanders comforting two stabbing victims while other customers chased the attacker out of the store. She said she felt "awful" for those who were stabbed.

“It was just very panicky, very scary,” said Angela Helfrich. “I’ve never witnessed anything like that, and I’ve lived in Traverse City my whole life. I was way too close.”

Traverse City, on the upper part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, is home to over 15,000 people with a metropolitan area of 150,000. The city, about 250 miles north of Detroit, sits on a bay off Lake Michigan and is a popular tourist destination. The 99th annual National Cherry Festival, an eight-day celebration that can draw 500,000 people, wrapped up two weeks ago.

"No area is immune to this kind of activity,” Shea said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan Walmart stabbing: 11 wounded, terrorism among likely charges

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