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Traverse City, Michigan — For Julia Martell, it was a seemingly normal Saturday. Julia Martell was browsing with her friends the aisle of her local Walmart when she heard people scream.
Still, she didn’t think much of the uproar and assumed that some passages had a fight. She turned the corner and saw the man running down another aisle, then saw his knife.
Eleven people, ages 29 to 84, were injured in a stinging attack at a Traverse City store on Saturday, and the suspect was arrested.
Bradford James Gill, 42, was quickly restrained by other shoppers and was taken into custody when the aide arrived, Grand Traverse County Sheriff said.
The man got over someone else nearby and “angled it towards me,” the 32-year-old Martell told NBC News. “And that’s when I booked it in the aisle.”
She said the man looked “crazy” and focused on the laser by reaching the store exit. She said she didn’t think she was the intended target, or even thought she had attracted the man’s particular attention, but that she was in the way in time so she wasn’t injured.
Authorities said Gill acted alone and the attack seemed random, with no pre-determined casualties.
Martell stopped running when he spots a group of other people. That’s when I said the fear was set up, “I didn’t know where that person was.”
“All I know is that I saw the knife and I ran away from it. Now I don’t know where the knife is,” Martell said.
“I’m still sitting down and working on the weight of realizing it was a kind of life or death moment,” Martell said. She said that it was “surreal” that she was there when it happened, especially in retrospect after seeing all the news reports.
“I could have easily become the next one,” she said.
On her way out of the store, she passed at least two men who had been stabbed. One, she said, was an older man, who complained about his heart. The other joked about the need for band-aids.
Authorities said a good Samaritan in the store could suppress the attacker and arrest him before officers arrive. Martell said it was happening on the other side of the store where she ended up.
Officers arrived within minutes, Miller said. On the scene, he helped his first responder find all the injured victims, he said.
Michael Miller, 34, said he was one of those people.
He heard what they called a bloody cry when he stepped into Walmart with his fiancé Julia Lynn, 27, and his four children.
Lyn grabbed the young girl and pulled her behind the pan rack. “Whatever hinders him from them,” she said.
But Miller ran towards action to help, she said.
Lin said he saw the man stab one victim into the produce section, then another, before he ran towards her and her child.
“He charged at us,” she told NBC News. She then said, he rushed into the mirror and the group trying to stop the attacker pushed him out the door.
The group outside took the suspect to the ground, and he said Miller was called 911.
Miller told the attackers that he and several other men around him “reacted at the same time and reacted in the same way.”
“I think we all met each other. We all noticed each other and saw what was going on,” Miller said. “I mean, I think everyone was definitely together.”
Both Miller and Lynn called the day’s event a “wake-up call” and expressed concern about bringing the kids together on business, especially when others are busy and one has to go alone. Lynn said Miller is beginning to think about planning to go from work when she’s home.
But after so many bystanders cooperated to stop the violence, they both have a bit of faith in their community.
Miller kept telling me after the fact that “I just did what everyone should have done,” Lynn said.
“It should be like that,” Miller added.
Michigan prosecutors are seeking terrorist charges against the suspect Gill. It is one of the victims of each stab wound, in addition to the 11 count assault intended to be murder.
All victims were taken care of at Manson Medical Center. Manson Healthcare spokesman Katherine Dewey said eight casualties were in fair condition and two were in serious condition. Everything is expected to survive.
Walmart says it will end some of its diversity, equity and inclusive initiatives, including the lifting of nonprofits.
Eileen Byon and Cheyenne Darcy Amaya contributed.
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