At around 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, a man stabbed eleven people in a Traverse City, Michigan Walmart.

The story made national headlines almost immediately, but the attacker was not identified. There weren’t many details other than that the victims appeared to have been targeted at random.

It wasn’t until later the following day that name of the suspect was released. During that interim, I’m sure my thoughts reflected those of many others: “Whaddya wanna bet that, if and when his name is released, he’ll turn out to be named ‘Mohammed’?”

What a surprise it was, then, to learn, late Sunday afternoon, that the suspect in custody was one Bradford James Gille, of Afton, about 90 miles north of Traverse City. So far, there are no reports of Gille having any connection to The Religion of Peace™, nor have any witnesses reported him yelling “Allahu Akbar!” or anything like it. Gille is said to be 42 years old and in photos released after his arrest, he appears to be a middle-aged Caucasian male.

So far authorities are puzzled as to the motivation for the attacks. Of course, many of us believe that, even if the attacker’s name did turn out to be “Mohammed,” and even if witnesses did report that he yelled “Allahu Akbar!” during his stabbing spree, we would still be told that “authorities are puzzled as to what could possibly be the motivation behind the attacks.” It’s just the way such stories tend to be reported nowadays.

Okay, so the stabber, at first glance, isn’t an Islamist...but is he a leftist? If so, that will be a completely unsurprising revelation.

Anyway, of his eleven victims, six were over 65 years of age, including two women and a man in their 80s. The youngest was a 29-year-old woman, and the next youngest a 38-year-old man. Several were reported in critical condition but, as of this writing, their conditions have been upgraded; it appears that all will survive, although none of them will ever be “OK.”

It’s being reported that several “Good Samaritans” intervened to help apprehend the attacker. Two of them are unrelated Walmart shoppers, interestingly both former Marines, who confronted the suspect in the parking lot and held him until sheriff’s officers arrived. One of them used a shopping cart as a weapon, and another, who was armed with a handgun, held the suspect at gunpoint.

Here’s a screenshot of Derrick Perry, the former Marine and armed citizen who held Gille at gunpoint:

This is clearly a case of a “good guy with a gun” stopping a bad guy with a knife. In addition to being lauded for his heroism, Mr. Perry should be praised for showing great restraint in not shooting the suspect. But am I the only one who wonders if Mr. Perry learned that “gangsta grip” in the USMC?

And is anyone else struck by the similarity of the name Derrick Perry to that of another former Marine, NYC’s “Subway Samaritan,” Daniel Penny?

Let’s hope the justice system doesn't put Mr. Perry through what it put Mr. Penny through!

Author’s Note: Stu Tarlowe has been a contributor to American Thinker since 2010. He also posts on Stu’s Stack o’ Stuff, subscriptions to which are currently free.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license.