At a Walmart near Traverse City, a man went on a stabbing rampage, injuring 11 people, according to local authorities.

All of the injured are expected to survive, according to the local hospital that treated the victims.

Law enforcement plan to file terrorism and assault with intent to murder charges against the suspect.

Twenty-year-old Anna Luke was working at a cash register, checking out a customer, just into her second week working at the Walmart near Traverse City, when she heard someone yell, “‘run, someone’s got a knife.'”

Everyone around her heeded the call and ran out to the parking lot, she said. “We’re all scared for our lives,” she said. Outside, she encountered one of the co-workers she met at orientation. The two cried and hugged. Her co-worker told her that she had blood on her shoes, according to Luke.

The stabbing rampage that took place Saturday, July 26, left 11 people injured before onlookers, one of them apparently armed with a handgun, subdued the suspect in the parking lot outside the store just before police arrived, police said. Authorities say they plan to seek terrorism and assault with intent to murder charges against 42-year-old Bradford James Gille, of Afton, a small, unincorporated community near Indian River in Cheboygan County.

“I still can’t believe this happened. It’s traumatizing,” Luke said in a telephone interview with the Free Press on Sunday, July 27. She didn’t see the suspect stab anyone, but she said she did see an older woman who appeared to be one of the stabbing victims with blood on her face. “It broke my heart,” Luke said. To take care of herself, Luke said she spent time with friends after leaving work “just to try to get my mind off of things.” The next morning following the stabbing rampage was heavy for her. “It honestly made me nervous to go out in public today,” Luke said. “It was really hard getting out of bed.”

Luke said that she’s nervous to return to work, but plans to seek counseling Walmart is offering employees and will encourage her coworkers to do the same and seek out support, saying “we’re all in this together.”

“Don’t ever be afraid to get the help you need,” she said. Luke added that she is praying for everyone who was injured in the attack, all of whom are expected to survive, Dr. Tom Schermerhorn, chief medical officer at Munson Medical Center where the victims were treated, told reporters during a July 27 news conference.

Luke has never witnessed anything like the mass violence that occurred at her workplace, but it’s not a new experience for her family. She said her sister was a student at Michigan State University in 2023 when a gunman terrorized the campus in a mass shooting that left three dead and five injured.

Walmart stabbing: Law enforcement to seek terrorism charge in Traverse City Walmart mass stabbing

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg said a community counseling center has been set up to offer free counseling to all community members at Northern Michigan College Innovation Center Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Grand Traverse Mental Health Crisis and Access Center also has counseling 24/7 counseling available at 410 Brooks Street in Traverse City, Moeggenberg said. She also directed the community to a crisis hotline number: 833-295-0616.

Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743.