(TRAVESE CITY, Mich.) — A former Marine who helped confront the suspect in a stabbing rampage at a Walmart in Michigan is speaking out in an exclusive broadcast interview after the terrifying incident that authorities said was an act of terrorism.
Nearly a dozen people were randomly injured in the attack on Saturday before a group of citizens — including Derrick Perry, who was armed with a gun — helped prevent the suspect from leaving or harming others, authorities said.
“I didn’t think of anything other than trying to get him away from people and get him isolated and get him to put the knife down and just to kind of focus on me instead of everyone that was yelling and screaming in the background,” Perry, a married father of three, told “Good Morning America” on Monday.
The suspect allegedly entered the Walmart store in Traverse City, about 150 miles north of Grand Rapids, Saturday afternoon and began attacking people with a folding knife, authorities said.
“It appears that these were all random acts,” Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon, adding that the attacks began near the checkout area.
The victims range in age from 29 to 84 and include a Walmart employee, Shea said.
A group of citizens, including a firearm-wielding Perry, confronted the suspect in the parking lot in a dramatic scene that was captured on video by a bystander. A deputy then took the suspect — 42-year-old Bradford James Gille — into custody, authorities said.
“I commend them,” Shea said of the citizens who helped. “It’s not very often that we have citizens that are willing to step up and take action.”
Gille was formally charged Monday with one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder. He did not enter a plea during his arraignment, and a judge overseeing the hearing said an attorney will be appointed to represent him.
Magistrate Tammi Rodgers set Gille’s bail at $100,000 cash and ordered him to return to court for a probable cause hearing on Aug. 6 and a preliminary hearing on Aug. 12.
The magistrate granted the prosecutor’s request for high bail for Gille, alleging that he had committed “one of the most serious crimes that one could commit in the state of Michigan.”
Prosecutors said each charge against Gille carries a possible life sentence if he is convicted.
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