TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – A man was arrested and is facing multiple charges for allegedly stabbing 11 people at a Walmart in Traverse City on Saturday.
Thanks to multiple good Samaritans, police were able to apprehend 42-year-old Bradford Gille.
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Two of those good Samaritans, brothers-in-law from Kent County, spoke with NBC-affiliate WPBN on what they witnessed and their encounter with the attacker.
You can watch the interview at the beginning of this article.
The two generally described the scene as “a bloodbath” and “extreme panic.”
Matthew Kolakowski served in the United States Marine Corps. He recalled the moment panic erupted in the store.
Kolakowski said he was with his daughter and her best friend, along with his brother-in-law, Chris O’Brien, preparing for a boat trip. They were on vacation in the area and needed some food and boat supplies before heading out.
While he was at the checkout, he heard a Walmart employee say someone had a knife and was running towards the front of the store.
Kolakowski said he then heard people screaming and saw people frantically running out of the store.
“It went from nothing to panic, extreme panic,” said O’Brien.
Within the chaos, Kolakowski said he saw Gille stabbing multiple people.
“The hardest part to understand was how he stabbed so many people,” said O’Brien. “Originally, we only thought three people; we never would have guessed 11.″
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Kolakowski said he took a shopping cart and started running the attacker over with it.
“I didn’t have a weapon, so I just grabbed an empty grocery cart and started running up behind him as hard as I could,” said Kolakowski.
O’Brien also took a shopping cart and drove it into the attacker in an attempt to stop Gille.
Kolakowski specifically remembered one woman being stabbed in the back and making eye contact with the attacker.
“He looked at me again as I was coming at him with a grocery cart,” Kolakowski said. “I hit him right in the rear as hard as I could.”
He recalled Gille saying he was a soldier as Kolakowski was throwing the shopping cart at the attacker, to which Kolakowski replied, “Well, I’m a m************ Marine.” He said Gille went silent.
“It seemed like he couldn’t walk very good anymore, but he was still swinging that knife around like he meant business,” said O’Brien.
Another good Samaritan, also a Marine, pointed his handgun at Gille and ordered him to drop the knife.
Eventually, the attacker dropped the knife, and Kolakowski moved the knife out of Gille’s reach and helped hold Gille to the ground until police arrived.
“His eyes were just crazy,” Kolakowski recalled.
When officers placed Gille into custody, Kolakowski said he was handed two medical kits and was asked to help the wounded victims.
The two were asked about how Gille acted throughout the attack.
“It was either adrenaline or drugs on him,” said Kolakowski. “He was in panic mode, for sure.”
Kolakowski also described Gille as if he were “possessed” or “had a demon in him.”
“I’ve been to Iraq. I’ve seen blood and gore, but my kids were with me,” he said as he recalled how he felt the days following. “I never wanted my kids to see that.”
“Everything he did was unforgivable,” said Kolakowski regarding Gille. “He should never see the light of day ever again.”
Local 4 reached out to the Marine who held Gille at gunpoint until police arrived, but he and his family respectfully declined to comment.
Gille faces one charge of terrorism and 11 charges of assault with intent to murder.