Court accepts insanity plea from man accused of stabbing 11 people in a Walmart last year
09/08/2026 7:39 pm PDT
GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, Mich. (TCN) -- The court has accepted a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity from a man accused of stabbing 11 people in a Walmart store last year.
According to the Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office, several 911 calls were made stating that a man was actively stabbing people in a Walmart on the afternoon of July 26, 2025. When deputies arrived, multiple citizens, including one who was armed, were confronting the suspect and preventing him from harming others. The suspect, Bradford Gille, was taken into custody without incident.
During the alleged stabbing spree, Gille injured 11 people using a folding knife with a blade that was 3.5 inches long, according to the sheriff’s office. Gille was charged with 11 counts of attempted murder and one count of making terroristic threats.
WWTV reports that all the victims survived.
According to WOOD, Gille has a long history of mental health struggles. He was previously diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and was arrested in 2016 for digging up a grave; he allegedly believed that his father had been buried alive. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and was placed on five-year authorized leave from a psychiatric hospital in 2019. Although he was released, he still received treatment.
He remained under court-ordered mental healthcare and lived in adult foster care, but his condition worsened and he was deemed a danger to himself. His case left NGRI (not guilty by reason of insanity) jurisdiction in July 2024 and was closed a couple of months later.
According to the Traverse Ticker, Gille was scheduled to appear in court in front of Judge Michael Stepka on Sept. 8 for a preliminary exam, but prosecuting attorney Noelle Moeggenberg issued a statement Sept. 4that Gille planned to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The court accepted his plea on Sept. 8, per the Ticker.
In a statement following the plea, Moeggenberg said, “The court reviewed reports from the Center for Forensic Psychiatry and found that the defendant was mentally ill and due to that mental illness, unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law,” the Ticker reports.
Moeggenberg continued, “This is the end of the criminal case. After 60 days [in an inpatient treatment facility], the defendant will be evaluated, and a petition will be filed with the Probate Court for continued mental health treatment. … The NGRI Committee, which falls under the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, will oversee treatment and supervision of the individual. Release of the individual to a non-secure environment following treatment is highly unlikely given the gravity of his behavior and a prior NGRI plea in 2016.”
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