Michael Turner stands outside the Pittsburgh Target where he and three friends stopped a mentally ill man from going on a stabbing rampage.
WPXI SCREENSHOT
Two years ago, Michael Turner went after a homeless, mentally ill Pittsburgh man who stabbed his friend Jobe Wright in the shoulder for no apparent reason.
Turner and his three friends—Wright, Roland Smith and Tyreek Walker—learned that the man, 41-year-old Leon Walls, had gone inside a nearby Target, so they went inside to find the man and hold him there until police came.
“I entered Target, I run up the escalator, I make a right; that’s when I encountered Walls in the store,” Turner told CBS Pittsburgh.
Turner says that when he and his friends confronted Walls, the man grabbed 16-year-old Allison Meadows and threatened to stab her.
“He grabbed a little girl. He didn’t stab her at that point. He was talking, saying … he was trying to get out the store, and Jobe told him, ‘You’re not going nowhere ’til the police come,’ ” Turner told the news station. “And that’s when he started saying, ‘Y’all think I’m playing, y’all think I’m playing. I’m not playing.’ And he stabbed her the first time. Then he stabs her again.”
Turner and his three friends jumped Walls, stopping him from inflicting further damage. The police arrested Walls, who was found guilty but mentally ill. But Turner says that instead of being treated as heroes, all of the men have been named in a lawsuit from Target, which claims that their behavior instigated the stabbing.
“Well, if the guy hadn’t gone on a stabbing spree, we wouldn’t be standing here talking, either. So they’re not looking at that,” Turner told the news station.
Source: The Root | STEPHEN A. CROCKETT JR.
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