The Walmart Stabbing: Why "Normal" Days Still Demand a Defensive Mindset
- Brad Parker
- Sep 15
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 15
On a Saturday in Traverse City, Michigan, an emotionally disturbed man entered a Walmart and began attacking random people with a small folding knife. Within moments, eleven people were stabbed, ranging in age from 29 to 84—including a Walmart employee—before the attacker was confronted and isolated by armed citizens in the parking lot.
This wasn’t terrorism in the traditional sense. It wasn’t political, ideological, or international. It wasn’t even planned in any strategic way. It was chaos—an act of sudden, irrational violence carried out by a lone individual who didn’t “make sense” by any normal metric.
And yet, it was devastating.
A Marine, A Handgun, A Choice
One of the people who took action was Derrick Perry, a Marine Corps veteran and father of three, who was legally armed at the time of the incident.
"I didn't think of anything other than trying to get him away from people… get him isolated… and just kind of focus on me instead of everyone that was yelling and screaming in the background."— Derrick Perry, interview with ABC News
Along with other courageous citizens, Perry helped stop the attacker from continuing the violence. He didn’t wait for backup. He didn’t try to determine the motive. He simply acted—decisively and with the mindset of someone who understands what too many people still ignore:
No one is coming to save you.
The Myth of the Predictable Attack
For years, we’ve trained ourselves—culturally and psychologically—to believe that if we avoid “bad areas” or don’t provoke anyone, we’ll be safe. But violence isn’t that courteous.
It happens in suburban Walmarts on a Saturday afternoon.
It comes from seemingly “random” strangers.
It erupts in places once considered safe and mundane.
And too often, it’s committed by individuals who are clearly emotionally or mentally unstable, but have slipped through the cracks of a system no longer equipped (or willing) to address such dangers before they spill over into the public.
What Tools Do You Carry?
When the unexpected happens, we don’t rise to the level of our expectations—we fall to the level of our training and our tools.
For most of us, those tools should include:
A defensive handgun, carried consistently and legally.
A basic trauma kit, accessible and understood.
A trained mindset of responsibility—to act when others can’t.
Let’s be honest: most people have no real plan for sudden violence. They freeze. They scream. They fumble for answers that aren’t coming. And sadly, too many of them still ask, “But why did he do it?”
The “why” doesn’t matter in that moment. What matters is that you are ready to stop the killing and save lives.
Final Thought
As John Farnam put it:
“With “individual sovereignty” we so cherish here in America invariably comes “individual responsibility,” sole responsibility for our own continued good health.Prudent adults take that responsibility literally, and seriously. Ever-adolescent fools blithely, self-deceptively believe “someone else” will protect them!.”
We don’t carry firearms because we’re paranoid. We carry them because reality doesn’t always give us a warning.
Credit: Portions of this story are based on ABC News' interview with Derrick Perry, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and armed citizen responder. Incident details provided by Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office.
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