Armed hero, Marine veteran Derrick Perry praised for confronting Michigan Walmart mass st@bbing suspect in dramatic showdown

Dramatic video shows a heroic Walmart shopper armed with a g::un confronting a kn!fe-wielding maniac moments after he allegedly stabbed 11 people inside the Michigan store on Saturday night.

In wild cellphone footage shared on X, the brave man, identified by family members as Marine veteran Derrick Perry, is seen yelling at the suspected attacker to drop the weapon in the parking lot of the superstore in Traverse City, about 255 miles northwest of Detroit.

Perry is being praised for his actions, with some even suggesting he should be nominated for the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“Give this man the recognition his actions deserve,” one commenter said. “Good men who are armed save lives.”

A man with a knife is confronted by armed citizens in a parking lot.
Dramatic video shows heroic Walmart shopper and Marine veteran Derrick Perry (R) confront a suspected maniac with a kn!fe (L) outside a Michigan store.X/ImMeme0

Perry’s own daughter also chimed in. She wrote on Facebook that his heroism is a “proud daughter moment” for her. His daughter-in-law added that the veteran is a “true hero.”

In the harrowing video, Perry shouts down the attack while brandishing a small handg::un.

Derrick Perry
Perry’s daughter gave him a shoutout on Facebook, saying it was a “proud daughter moment.”X/paige29863
“Drop it! Throw the kn!fe now. Throw it away!” the stand-your-ground hero says.

Several other men standing alongside him, one pushing a Walmart shopping cart, helped to force back the attacker.

The camera then pans to the Walmart entrance, where one of the victims of the st@bbing attack is seen lying on the ground.

The other brave customers surround the attacker and order him to lay on the ground before the video ends.

On Sunday, authorities identified the suspect as Bradford James Gille, 42.

Police cars and emergency vehicles outside a Walmart after a stabbing.
11 people were wounded in the st@bbing at the Traverse City store on Saturday evening.upnorthlive abc 7
He faces charges of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder following the shocking st@bbing spree in Traverse City — a popular Michigan tourist destination.

His victims range in age from 29 to 85, with six of them over 60, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said. They are all expected to survive.

Shea revealed that Gille has a history of arrests for drug offenses and vandalism.

The horror began at the store just before 5 p.m. on Saturday after the man went on a st@bbing spree, attacking shoppers at random.

Six were left in a critical condition and five in a serious condition, but by Sunday, just four were in a serious condition and seven in a fair condition, according to a statement from the Munson Medical Center shared by Click On Detroit.

A man wielding a knife is confronted by armed citizens in a parking lot.
Perry and several other customers held the suspect in the Walmart parking lot until emergency services arrived.X/ImMeme0
A witness was shopping in Walmart with her fiancé when the attack happened and said customers chased the attacker out of the store and held him in the parking lot until first responders arrived.

“It was just very panicky, very scary. I’ve never witnessed anything like that, and I’ve lived in Traverse City my whole life,” Angela Helfrich told Click On Detroit.

“I was way too close. That could have been me or my family, and I feel awful for all the victims and their families.”

Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who lives in Traverse City, said he and his husband Chasten were “shaken by the awful and senseless violence” at Walmart on Saturday.