TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Forty-two-year-old Bradford James Gille’s alleged stabbing spree at a Traverse City Walmart on July 26 wasn’t a sudden eruption – it was a slow-motion disaster, nearly three decades in the making. His family says Gille battled severe, untreated mental illness for 28 years, spiraling through hospitals, jails, medications, and courtrooms. Nothing stuck.
Gille was arraigned in Grand Traverse County on Monday, July 28, charged with one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder. He pleaded not guilty and was given a $1 million bond after the Grand Traverse County prosecutor petitioned the court for higher bond.
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“That attack that took place wasn’t directed at anybody, it was mental illness that we’ve been dealing with for 28 years,” his older brother, Chris “Shane” Gille said to M-Live. “The system failed every one of us.”
A trail of chaos and missed warnings.
And fail it did. Over the years, both court records and Bradford’s brother paint a troubling picture of Gille’s behavior – assault and battery, charges of dismemberment and mutilation of dead bodies and malicious destruction of tombs and monuments, assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic violence, retail fraud, vandalism, possession of marijuana, walking naked down a Pennsylvania highway, public intoxication and more. Over the years, he was diagnosed with both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Chris said that warning signs about his brother were everywhere but that Gille didn’t get the long-term treatment and placement he needed. He went on to say that Bradford was also aided with disability checks from the government which he used to pay for the drugs and alcohol he wanted.
Although Bradford was briefly hospitalized and medicated multiple times, without long-term intervention, he was repeatedly released back into the community. Even during a recent Zoom appearance for his arraignment, Bradford made what appear to be delusional-sounding remarks by saying, “Y’all have the tobacco company and you’re selling cigarettes with fiberglass and chemicals in ‘em just to kill off the population.”
Tom Bousamra, a Catholic deacon who is a chaplain at the Grand Traverse County jail, told Bridge Michigan, “The Walmart stabbings, to me, is about mental health crisis…This fella needed help.”
Decades of decline.
State Senator John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) said about the incident, “We need to do so much more to address the mental health crisis in our state. That means funding, strategy, everything.”
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In the 1990s, Michigan shut down several of its psychiatric hospitals and the state’s mental health system has been struggling ever since. Although Michigan has more than 1 in 5 residents who experience mental illness, almost half didn’t receive treatment in 2019 according to a 2022 report by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, the most recent report available. Another report from the KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) said in 2023 that the state would need an additional 226 psychiatrists to meet the mental health needs of Michiganders.
Another tragedy, another missed opportunity.
The failures in the Traverse City incident echo the tragedy in New York City just two days later when Shane Devon Tamura, a 27-year-old man with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and a known mental health history, took an assault rifle into a Manhattan building and killed four people including an off-duty police officer. Like Gille, Tamura had cycled through psych facilities – but slipped through the cracks again and again. Mental health warnings were there but they didn’t protect the public from Tamura.
Bail ‘reform’ that endangers the public.
Mental illness itself isn’t a crime, but when it’s combined with a justice system that issues lenient sentences and favors low or no-cash bail, it fuels a growing crisis nationwide. In Michigan, Gille walked free multiple times despite violent and concerning behavior. Instead of long-term supervised care and secure psychiatric treatment, he got slap-on-the-wrist releases.
But Gille is far from alone. Across the country, countless individuals with mental health issues are released back into communities without proper treatment. Making matters worse are progressive bail policies that favor ideology over accountability and have turned many jails into revolving doors.
A turning point? Trump’s executive order demands action.
President Trump’s July 24 executive order – Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets – calls for a renewed federal push to identify and treat violent threats before they erupt. It includes directives to boost cooperation between law enforcement and mental health professionals and pledges support for state and local efforts to prevent repeat violent offenders from slipping through the system.
In the order it says, “Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order. Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens. My Administration will take a new approach focused on protecting public safety.”
It marks a stark reversal from recent Democratic-led policies that critics say have weakened the criminal justice system, favoring offenders over public safety and victims’ rights. Trump’s executive order calls for a more balanced approach – combining compassionate care with strict accountability.
If America is serious about safety, it’s time to stop treating untreated mental illness like a civil liberty – and start treating it like the emergency it is.
