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The Scene That Shouldn’t Exist
Last Saturday, July 26, 2025, in a Traverse City Walmart, a man walked in and randomly stabbed eleven people. No motive, no warning—just terror erupting near the checkout area.
He didn’t have a gun.
But he did have a knife.
And he did have the intent to harm.
What stopped him?
Not the police.
Not a metal detector.
Not stricter laws.
🎯 I’m Not Anti-Gun. I’m Anti-Unstable-With-a-Weapon
Let me be clear:
I don’t hate guns. I don’t want to rip them from every law-abiding citizen’s hands. I’m not here screaming ban it all.
I’ve known gun owners who are incredibly responsible, safe, and respectful.
What I am against?
Unstable, unhinged people getting ahold of deadly weapons—any weapons.
In Traverse City, this man used a knife, not a firearm. He still managed to injure eleven people. Imagine if no one had intervened. Imagine if the man with the CPL hadn’t been there. Imagine if the good guys were the only ones unarmed.
This is why I believe it’s not about the weapon.
It’s about who’s holding it.
I refuse to even name him—the villain doesn’t deserve the spotlight. The heroes do:
- Derrick Perry
- Matt Kolakowski
- Chris O’Brien
Between them—and another armed shopper—they demanded the attacker drop the knife, held him down, and helped apply first aid until a deputy arrived.
Lives were saved. And we’re grateful.
🧠The Root of It All: Mental Health, Not Metal (Updated: July 30, 2025)
This man had no reason. No ties to the victims. No vendetta. He didn’t arrive to settle something.
But what happens when someone snaps without warning?
The suspect reportedly had documented mental health concerns.
And the system knew.
He wasn’t a shadow in the dark. He had a history—violent behavior, past incidents, clear signs of crisis. Those who loved him tried to get him help. But access was limited, support was inadequate, and no one with authority intervened in time. Just like so many others before him, he was failed by a broken mental health infrastructure that reacts to bloodshed instead of preventing it.
Let’s be real: mental illness isn’t a crime. But it is a crisis when ignored.
We need:
- Affordable, accessible mental health care
- Crisis teams that don’t just show up with handcuffs
- Preventative care, not just damage control
- Safe spaces for people to say, “I’m not okay”
Because whether it’s a knife or a gun, desperation will always find a weapon.
🧹 Matriarch Mode: Processing the Panic
As a mother, the idea of taking my daughters to the store and being caught in something like this?
It’s paralyzing.
Because these days, it’s not if something happens—it’s where and when.
And it happened in Traverse City.
A place I love. A place of cherry festivals and sparkling lake water.
A place that felt safe.
Until it didn’t.
I was literally up there last weekend for my daughter’s Big Birthday Weekend—ironically telling my mother-in-law that we were going to Meijer because that Walmart is sketch.
The ripple effect of that trauma will linger. For victims. For witnesses. For the cashier who had to keep working. For the kids who saw blood where toys should be. For the mom who now flinches in the cereal aisle.
And for the rest of us, too.
⚖️ So, Where Do We Go From Here?
Gun control is a hot-button issue. But if we only scream about guns, we miss the bigger threat: untreated mental illness + access to any weapon = devastation.
The solution isn’t to disarm good people. It’s to protect them.
It’s to fund the therapists and crisis workers and support systems.
It’s to catch the cracks people fall through—before they break.
đź–¤ Final Thoughts From a Mama Witch With 2 Little Bats
I’m raising daughters in a world that feels like it’s on fire.
And I’m tired of pretending this is normal.
We can’t bubble-wrap reality. But we can demand better from our systems.
We can hold space for grief, fear, and anger.
And we can recognize when a good guy with a gun genuinely does save lives.
Both things can be true.
And both deserve to be talked about.
And both deserve to be talked about.
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