GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY — Petoskey authorities say they made contact with the suspect in Saturday’s Walmart mass stabbing twice in the days leading up to the attack.
Petoskey Public Safety director Adrian Karr says that suspect Bradford James Gille was known to the department as an area man experiencing homelessness.
Karr said that Gille had been loitering in violation of local ordinances.
Gille appeared calm and made no threatening comments, he said.
Friday morning, July 25, the department asked the Emmet County Probate Court for permission to take him into protective custody for an evaluation.
The court granted that request, but authorities could not find Gille until the Saturday attack.
“I think many officers have probably had contact over the years. I know i personally have,” Karr said. “These encounters haven’t been any indication that he was a danger to himself or others — just numerous contacts of a plethora of different complaints.”
Gille was also known to the Mackinaw City Police Department, who were called to a family market on July 18 for a report of a male suspect with a knife.
Police say that Gille did not pull out his knife in the store, and had a verbal disagreement with an employee.
Authorities say he did not threaten anyone at the scene, but did pull out a small pocketknife after being asked to leave — nobody was around Gille at the time.
