A man accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart is in Michigan authorities' custody
The 42-year-old suspect entered the store shortly before 5 p.m. and used a folding knife to stab 11 people, the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on social media. A sheriff's deputy arrived within minutes and took the man into custody.
People in the store also helped apprehend the suspect and treat victims, the sheriff's office said.
The victims' ages weren't immediately released.
'Eleven is 11 too many, but thank God it wasn't more,' Sheriff Michael Shea told reporters.
Emergency vehicles and uniformed first responders gathered in the parking lot of the shopping center that houses several other retail stores. Authorities also were seen interviewing employees, still wearing blue uniform vests and name tags, nearby as the response gave way to an investigation.
Tiffany DeFell, 36, who lives in Honor, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Traverse City, said she was in the store's parking lot when she saw chaos erupt around her.
'It was really scary. Me and my sister were just freaking out,' she said. 'This is something you see out of the movies. It's not what you expect to see where you're living.'
Munson Healthcare said via social media that 11 people were being treated at the region's largest hospital in northern Michigan. Spokesperson Megan Brown said all were stabbing victims. Six people were critical and five were in serious condition late Saturday, she said.
Shea said the weapon involved appeared to be a folding-style knife. Shea said the suspect is believed to be a Michigan resident but declined to share further details. Michigan State Police had said earlier in the day that the suspect was in authorities' custody.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said: 'Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence."
Walmart said in a statement that it would continue to work closely with law enforcement in the investigation.
' Violence like this is unacceptable. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and we're thankful for the swift action of first responders,' the statement said.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a social media post that bureau officials were responding to 'provide any necessary support.'
Traverse City is a popular vacation spot on the coast of Lake Michigan. It is known for its cherry festival, wineries and lighthouses and is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump's federal law-enforcement crackdown ripples through DC neighborhoods
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The White House has credited Trump's crackdown with hundreds of arrests, while local officials have criticized the aggressive intervention in the city's affairs. The confrontation escalated on Tuesday as the top federal prosecutor in D.C. opened an investigation into whether police officials have falsified crime data, according to a person familiar with the situation who wasn't authorized to comment publicly. The probe could be used to bolster Trump's claims that the city is suffering from a 'crime emergency' despite statistics showing improvements. The mayor's office and the police department declined to comment. Stops are visible across the city Blocks away from where Yahyaoui had set up shop, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local police stopped a moped driver delivering pizza. The agents drove unmarked cars and wore tactical vests; one covered his face with a green balaclava. 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The Sun
22 minutes ago
- The Sun
I saw a little scroat shoplifting last week and what store owner told me was truly shocking – here's what gov MUST do
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The Guardian
34 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ice used Marriott chain to detain immigrants, despite hotel's 2019 pledge not to cooperate
A Sheraton hotel in Louisiana has been used by immigration officials to hold people who are being deported, in what appears to be a contradiction of a position Sheraton's parent company, Marriott, took in 2019 when it said its properties would not be used in cooperation with Ice. The Intercept first reported that the hotel, located on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria, Louisiana, near a major deportation hub and airport used by Ice, had been used by immigration officials earlier this month to hold a father and his teenage son for four days after their arrest in New York. They were then deported to Ecuador. The Intercept cited phone-tracking evidence that had been shared with the publication and was later seen by the Guardian. The evidence corroborates the account of a source with knowledge of hotel operations in Alexandria, who told the Guardian that they believed the venue had been used to detain immigrant families and unaccompanied children since it was renovated in late 2023. The source observed Ice contractors known to assist in the transfer of unaccompanied minors operating at the Sheraton as recently as June of this year. The source added that other hotels in the area have also been used to hold immigrant families. It is not clear whether Marriott has a formal contract with Ice or what the company knows about Ice's use of the Sheraton in Alexandria. In one case that emerged last year, Marriott sued a New York-based franchise after the hotel entered a partnership with the city for it to be used as an immigrant shelter, saying it had done so without Marriott's consent. Marriott did not respond to several requests for comment. 'It would be highly unfortunate if major hotel chains are facilitating the Trump administration's cruel policy of deporting families,' said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project. In 2019, during Donald Trump's first term, Marriott rejected the idea that any of its hotels or properties – which include Sheraton and Courtyard hotels – would be used by Ice to detain immigrants. It made the statement at a time when the Trump administration was calling for a mass roundup of undocumented immigrants. Citing anonymous sources, ABC News reported at the time that administration officials had internally discussed the possibility that they might need hotel rooms because of limited capacity at Ice detention centers. 'Our hotels are not configured to be detention facilities, but to be open to guests and community members as well. While we have no particular insights into whether the US government is considering the use of hotels to aid in the situation at the border, Marriott has made the decision to decline any requests to use our hotels as detention facilities,' a company spokesperson said in July 2019, according to ABC News. The company's position won it plaudits at the time, such as public recognition by the American Historical Association, an association of professional historians, which announced in a public statement that it appreciated Marriott's 'principled stand' and noted the importance of immigrants to the hotel and related industries. It is well-documented that Ice does use hotels to house immigrant families who are being deported from the US or being transferred to other detention centers. In a case that attracted national attention in April, Ice detained two families in Louisiana with three of their US citizen children and held them incommunicado and under guard at a hotel for days on end, despite multiple attempts by family members and lawyers to contact them. The families, along with their US citizen children, were deported in the early hours of 25 April and, according to legal filings, had been held at a location in Alexandria. Filings in that case reviewed by the Guardian include a short, handwritten submission by one of the mothers written on paper that closely matches images of branded Sheraton notepads posted online. The Guardian could not independently confirm whether the families had been detained at the Sheraton in Alexandria. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion The Intercept's reporting focused on the story of Edison Iza and his 15-year-old son, Roger, who were reportedly arrested by Ice at an immigration check-in New York on 9 August. The pair were then reportedly flown to Louisiana and 'locked up' in the Sheraton hotel, where they stayed for four days without access to their phones or the internet. 'We couldn't call or go on the web to ask for help,' Roger told the Intercept. 'Without our phones, we didn't know any names or phone numbers.' Ice did not immediately respond to the Guardian's questions about the agency's use of the Sheraton, including whether it has a contract with the hotel or uses it on an ad hoc basis. The hospitality industry is especially vulnerable to Ice raids and the Trump administration's deportation program, given the high percentage of workers in the industry who are undocumented. While the Department of Homeland Security issued guidance earlier this year that Ice agents were not to conduct raids at hotels, restaurants and farms, that guidance was later reversed, according to a June report in the Washington Post. About 34% of housekeepers, 24% of cooks and 20% of waitstaff employed by the US hotel industry is undocumented, according to the 2023 census. Additional reporting by Maanvi Singh Do you have a tip on this story? Please contact a Guardian reporter on Signal at 646-886-8761
