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Mint
2 hours ago
- Mint
Who is Derrick Perry? The shopper who averted major tragedy as 11 people stabbed at Walmart in Michigan
What began as a regular Saturday afternoon at a Walmart in Traverse City, Michigan, quickly descended into chaos as a 42-year-old man began stabbing customers at random. According to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office, the attacker entered the store around 5 pm. wielding a folding knife, ultimately injuring 11 people — six critically and five seriously. But amid the panic, one man's courageous actions helped prevent further bloodshed. Derrick Perry, a local resident shopping with his family at the Walmart store, is being credited with stopping the attacker before more lives were lost. Eyewitnesses say Perry ran toward the suspect while others fled. 'He didn't even hesitate,' said one shopper who witnessed the incident. 'Everyone was running away, but Derrick ran toward the danger.' Security footage reportedly shows Perry using a store shelf for cover before lunging at the attacker, tackling him to the ground, and restraining him until law enforcement arrived. 'He was just a shopper like the rest of us, but he acted like someone who had trained for this,' said another witness. 'He was calm, precise, and brave.' Sources later confirmed that Perry has a background in security training, which may explain his composed and effective intervention. Traverse City Police Chief Lauren Gilbert praised Perry's selfless actions, saying, 'Had he not stepped in when he did, the situation could've turned much worse. He likely saved lives.' Sheriff Michael Shea added that the attacker appeared to act alone and that the victims were chosen at random. City officials are reportedly preparing to honor Derrick Perry with a Community Hero Award in the coming days. On social media, he is being hailed as a real-life hero. 'He didn't come in wearing a cape,' a local resident posted on Facebook. 'But he showed the kind of courage you only see in movies.' Munson Healthcare confirmed that all 11 victims are being treated at the region's largest hospital. As of Sunday morning, four were in serious condition, and seven were in fair condition. 'Encouraging signs of recovery' have been observed, hospital spokesperson Megan Brown said. Authorities say the attacker used a folding knife and that there is currently no known motive. Governor Gretchen Whitmer called the incident a 'brutal act of violence,' adding, 'Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this.' The FBI has also offered assistance in the investigation. Steven Carter, a Walmart delivery driver, saw part of the attack unfold in the parking lot. 'I saw him cut a woman's throat,' he said. 'Later, a group of shoppers surrounded him. They kept yelling 'Drop the knife,' but he said, 'I don't care, I don't care.' He kept backing away before someone tackled and subdued him.' That someone, it turns out, was Derrick Perry.

Business Standard
4 hours ago
- Business Standard
CloudSEK detects Maha-based counterfeit currency syndicates on social media
Cyber intelligence firm CloudSEK has detected counterfeit currency syndicates based out of Maharashtra operating via social media platforms, the company said in a report. The report said that the earlier such syndicates were confined to the dark web and underground print shops and claimed that such syndicates were now operating in broad daylight through social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Sourajeet Majumder, a security researcher at CloudSEK, said the firm has reported about the syndicate to the law enforcement agencies with details of the cyber criminals along with their phone numbers, GPS location and supporting digital evidence. He said the counterfeit currency network was flourishing openly on social media platforms. "In a first-of-its-kind investigation, CloudSEK's STRIKE team has not only quantified the spread -- Rs 17.5 crore worth of fake Indian currency in just six months -- but also attributed key individuals behind the operation using facial recognition, GPS data, and digital forensics," the report said. CloudSEK is one of the cyber intelligence service providers to India cyber security watchdog CERT-In. The CloudSEK researchers found over 4,500 posts promoting counterfeit currency, more than 750 accounts and pages facilitating the sale and around 410 unique phone numbers linked to sellers. "Adhering to its commitment to responsible disclosure and aiding national security, the comprehensive findings from this investigation, including the detailed attribution of threat actors, their phone numbers, precise GPS locations, and supporting digital evidence, have been formally furnished to relevant central and state law enforcement agencies," Majumder said. He said that the critical intelligence has also been shared with appropriate regulatory authorities to enable swift and decisive action against this illicit network, safeguarding both the nation's financial stability and its citizens.


Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Indian Express
Struggling with basic tasks like logging in, military pensioners say SPARSH portal fails them
The Ministry of Defence launched SPARSH (System for Pension Administration Raksha) to simplify pension delivery for India's military veterans. But many ex-servicemen say the centralised digital system has only added to their troubles — from inaccessible interfaces to endless corrections that never seem to stick. At the SPARSH facilitation centre in Chandigarh Sector 9, the complaints keep coming. Most are from veterans and widows struggling with basic tasks like logging in, uploading life certificates, or fixing small errors in their pension records. 'The pension comes, but when something goes wrong, the system turns into a maze,' said Lt Colonel S S Sohi (retd), president of the Ex-Servicemen's Grievance Cell. 'Even a misspelt name or wrong date of birth takes multiple online applications to correct.' The NGO, active since 2003, holds weekly meetings where veterans line up with unresolved cases. Many lack the digital literacy or family support to manage an online-only system. And the facilitation centre has no authority to amend records. 'We just collect forms and forward them. After that, it's out of our hands,' a staffer at the centre said. Among the initiative's loudest critics is retired army officer Lt Col R K Bhardwaj, who is spearheading a social media campaign under the hashtag #SPARSHFailsVeterans. He says nearly half of all military pensioners, especially older veterans in rural areas, still cannot access or use the portal effectively. 'Many don't even know how to log in, and the website keeps throwing errors,' Bhardwaj wrote on social media. According to Bhardwaj, tens of thousands of complaints have been stuck in the pipeline for over a year. A Defence Accounts meeting in Lucknow last October revealed that about 6.5 lakh pension-related grievances remained unresolved. The cases are often Kafkaesque. Subedar Pritam Singh, retired from the Army, is still 'dead' on official papers decades after he survived an attack on a train in 1984 that led to his wrongful death declaration. He now receives his pension but continues to submit life certificates every year to prove he exists. For an 85-year-old widow in a remote village, SPARSH has turned what used to be a simple visit to her bank into a monthly ordeal. Illiterate and without digital devices, she relies entirely on neighbours to navigate the portal. Others, like Vinder Singh, face bureaucratic nightmares unrelated to the software. Singh, who lost all his service records and savings when his bag was stolen in 1997, has been unable to restore his documents despite years of effort. 'Without those papers, you are nothing,' he said. Veterans' frustration with SPARSH has even reached Parliament. On March 10, Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose sought data on how many ex-servicemen remain stranded without pensions. Veterans are now demanding that those above 60 or retired before 2016 be allowed to opt back into the old bank-based system. Some are even calling for a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit of SPARSH's performance. Col Sohi says his NGO will keep fighting. 'We're not here to criticise. We just want the system to work. Our veterans deserve at least that,' he said. 'If letters to the authorities don't work, we take legal recourse—and not one of our cases has been dismissed.' The writers are interns with The Indian Express.