Michigan Walmart customers used shopping carts, gun to subdue stabber

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Matthew Kolakowski was shopping for fishing gear and snacks with his daughter at a Michigan Walmart over the weekend when he heard an employee yelling “he’s got a knife” followed by sounds of screaming.

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Then he saw a man rushing toward the checkout counter.

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“All of a sudden I see him pop up and I swear we locked eyes for a minute and I yelled at my daughter, ‘Stay here.’ So I just took off running,” Kolakowski said, recalling the moment he decided to confront the man accused of stabbing 11 people at the Traverse City store on Saturday.

Bradford Gille was charged Monday with terrorism and 11 counts of attempted murder. Police said they had no apparent motive for the violent attack carried out with a 3 1/2 inch (nearly 9-centimeter) knife.

The actions of Kolakowski and some other men drew effusive praise from Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea. Overnight, the strangers became online celebrities for their heroics as a video showing the confrontation spread swiftly on social media.

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Kolakowski said that as he followed the man out of the store, he saw him plunge his blade into an older woman outside. Having no weapon himself, Kolakowski grabbed a shopping cart, hoping to knock the man down as he gave chase.

“He just ran right behind her and buried his knife into her back, right in front of me,” Kolakowski said. “He pulled the knife out of her and went to take off, then stopped and hesitated and turned around like he was going to go after her again. That’s when he noticed me with the grocery cart … I just went as hard as I could and just got him on his ankles with the grocery cart from behind.”

Kolakowski, a 39-year-old disabled veteran, was quickly joined by another man with a shopping cart, stopping the man later identified by authorities as Gille. A third man pointed a gun toward the man, repeatedly demanding he drop the knife.

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He eventually put the knife down and Kolakowski said he jumped on the man, restraining him until police quickly arrived.

“Honestly, I didn’t hesitate at all,” said Kolakowski, speaking from his home in nearby Kent City. Though he was wary of being stabbed himself, he said, “I just kept going.”

Shea said the 11 victims were men and women ranging in age from 29 to 84, including one Walmart employee. All were expected to survive, officials said.

Authorities said Gille, 42, has a history of mental health problems and has been arrested or ticketed numerous times in the Petoskey, Michigan, area since 2001. He has also received jail sentences for assault and domestic violence-related offenses.

In 2017, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity after being charged with damaging a burial vault and tipping over grave markers at a Ptoskey cemetery. And police in Petoskey reported speaking twice with Gille in recent days about loitering.

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In a statement Monday, the Petoskey Department of Public Safety said the agency sought and received a court order Friday to place Gille in protective custody, deeming him a risk to himself or others.

But they could not find him — until the Traverse City stabbings occurred.

Gille’s mother told the Petoskey News-Review in 2007 that her son had been in a long-term cycle of mental illness. Beverly Gille at that time praised police and judges, whom she said were trying to help him.

“He’s fine when he’s on his medication,” she told the newspaper. “The problem is his illness tells him that he is fine and doesn’t need to take his medication.”

At his arraignment Monday, Gille appeared agitated and seemed to suggest he was homeless. A not-guilty plea was entered for him, and bond was set at $100,000.

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Kolakowski said that as he and the other shoppers surrounded the man in the Walmart parking lot, it was clear that something was not right. He described the man as wild-eyed and sweating heavily and describing those in the store as “bad, like he was making an excuse why he stabbed everybody.”

Kolakowski brother-in-law, Chris O’Brien, who recorded the video, said the “crazy” scene unfolded incredibly fast and that Kolakowski’s actions surely prevented several more stabbings.

“It’s his courage that is the craziest part. It was something to witness,” he said.

“A guy was stabbing people and we were just next on his list if we didn’t do something right,” O’Brien said. “Matt was determined to make sure it was stopping then and there and he sure as hell did that.”

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