GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, Mich. — They went to Walmart to pick up fishing poles, pop and snacks for a day on the lake. They wound up stopping a stabbing.
On Tuesday, these two bystanders — two men from Kent County — talked to me and other members of the media about what's being considered an act of terror at the Traverse City superstore.
"'Oh, you're a hero.' You just kind of say thanks," said Matthew Kolakowski, 39, sitting in the third floor of the Grand Rapids Township office building where his father works as a private investigator.
"You don't know what to say," he said.
"He is [a hero]," said Kolakowski's brother-in-law, Chris O'Brien, 42, sitting next to him. "What he did, not many people will ever be able to do."
On the afternoon of July 26, a Saturday, 42-year-old Bradford Gille stabbed eleven people in a Traverse City Walmart. He has since been arraigned on charges of terrorism and eleven counts of assault with intent to murder.
READ MORE: Traverse City stabbing suspect had decades-long mental health struggles, criminal history
Kolakowski heard the attack before he saw the attacker.
"A mass wave of blood-curdling screams from the back of the store," he said.
The former Marine "locked eyes" with Gille as shoppers ran from him. A Walmart employee screamed, "He's got a knife! He's got a knife!"
"Your training kicks in," said Kolakowski, who was shopping at the time with his daughter, his daughter's friend and O'Brien.
He grabbed a grocery cart and "took off" toward Gille, who, on his way out of the store, allegedly stabbed an elderly lady in the back.
In the parking lot, Kolakowski rammed the 42-year-old with the cart, knocking him to the ground.
"I tried to pick up that cart as high as I could and smash it on top of him," Kolakowski said.
"Looking like Hulk over there," O'Brien added.
Gille scrambled away, but was met by more bystanders, including a second man with a shopping cart and another former Marine who pulled his gun on him.
"Never bring a knife to a gunfight," Kolakowski said.
At this time, O'Brien began filming the parking lot scene with his phone. If Gille tried to attack the man with the gun, O'Brien figured the man would shoot him.
"Video evidence would have been the smartest thing to have at that moment," O'Brien said.
"He did a hell of a job," Kolakowski said about the other marine.
Kent
Gun instructor says bystander in Traverse City stabbing showed 'composure'
Gille dropped the knife after receiving several orders from the group. Kolakowski grabbed the three-and-a-half inch blade and held the man down until police arrived.
The next day, they still had their day on the lake.
"I hope and pray this is a learning lesson for everybody," Kolakowski said. "Your head should be on a swivel no matter where you're at. Nobody thinks this is going to happen in a beautiful city like Traverse City."
Since Saturday, Kolakowski and O'Brien have had a lot of what ifs. What if they went to a different store? What is they were the ones at the checkout?
They do know this: They're the type to protect.
"I'll always be there to help you out and always try to protect you," Kolakowski said about his children. "Always keep your head on a swivel, even if I'm not there."
