Crime
Traverse City Walmart Stabbing Suspect Identified as 42-Year-Old Man
TRAVERSE CITY, MI — Authorities have identified the suspect in the mass stabbing incident at the Walmart Supercenter in Traverse City as a 42-year-old man. The violent attack unfolded just before 5 p.m. on Saturday, prompting a major emergency response and leaving multiple victims injured.
According to local law enforcement and witnesses, the suspect entered the Walmart located at Crossing Circle and began randomly attacking shoppers with a knife.
Within minutes, Traverse City Police, supported by other emergency services, responded to the scene. The suspect was quickly apprehended and taken into custody.
Initial reports indicate that at least eleven individuals were stabbed, including an elderly woman and a child.
Several of the victims sustained serious injuries, with some requiring the application of tourniquets at the scene.
First responders declared a Level 2 Mass Casualty Incident and requested all Advanced Life Support (ALS) units in the county to respond.
Grand Traverse 911 issued a public advisory urging residents to avoid the area, noting there was no ongoing threat to the public.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos inside the store as customers and employees fled in panic. One witness, Tasha Nash, who was inside the store at the time, told Channel2 NOW, “The whole store started screaming and running. There was a guy with a knife — he stabbed six people. I saw a man stabbed in the eye.”
Another witness, Kathryn Ann Clark, told Channel2 Now that her friend’s son and another shopper managed to physically subdue the attacker. “It WAS a stabbing. No shots were fired,” she said, confirming rumors of gunfire were unfounded.
A Walmart employee corroborated that victims were found in multiple departments throughout the store, with some reportedly going into cardiac arrest following the incident.
Witness Amber Paull said the attacker appeared to “lose it” on random people in the produce and grocery aisles. She also described the heroic actions of a bystander who attempted to intervene with a firearm but was urged to flee along with others as the situation escalated.
Police have not yet released the suspect’s name, nor a possible motive, but confirmed that he is in custody and the investigation is ongoing.
Traverse City, located roughly 125 miles north of Grand Rapids, remains shaken by the unexpected violence.
Authorities are continuing to interview witnesses and review surveillance footage as they work to determine the full scope of the incident.
Crime
Mustapha Kharbouch Now-Deleted 2024 Manifesto Published in Institute for Palestine Studies Recovered
Brown University has removed multiple online references to student activist Mustapha Kharbouch in the days following a deadly campus shooting, a move that has drawn public attention amid heightened online speculation—despite law enforcement officials confirming that no suspects or persons of interest have been identified in the investigation.
Archived versions of Brown University webpages show that Kharbouch, a first-year student at the time, was previously listed in several university-affiliated roles, including as a student assistant and Cultural Programming Coordinator connected to the Global Brown Center.
His academic interests were described as focusing on International and Public Affairs and Anthropology, with involvement in Middle East–focused academic, cultural, and student programming.
Those pages are no longer accessible, and Kharbouch’s social media accounts have also been deactivated.
A verified buyer from the United States with the name “Mustapha K.” reviewed a 9MM muzzle brake through the Wing Tactical website on December 29th, 2024 — the same caliber used in the Brown shooting.
There are approximately a few hundred people in the entire United States with that first name + last initial combination.
University officials have not issued a public explanation for the removal of the online profiles.
The changes occurred as online speculation intensified in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, with social media users circulating screenshots of archived university pages and past writings associated with Kharbouch.
Among the materials resurfaced by online users was a 2024 essay authored by Kharbouch and published by the Institute for Palestine Studies as part of a special student essay series titled Genocide in Gaza: Student Essays — Brown University Encampment 2024.
The essay, titled “I Hear the Voice of My Ancestors Calling: From the Camps to the Campus,” was published on August 13, 2024, months before the shooting. The piece is a first-person reflective essay examining Palestinian identity, intergenerational memory, student activism, and questions of hope amid displacement, war, and protest.
The article includes poetic excerpts adapted from “Ancestors Song,” a chant popularized during student-led Palestine solidarity actions at Brown University, and documents Kharbouch’s participation in campus organizing efforts, including sit-ins, hunger strikes, rallies, and the Brown Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
The essay situates these experiences within a broader discussion of decolonial thought, feminist theory, and Palestinian history, including reflections on the 1948 Nakba and the author’s family history as a third-generation stateless Palestinian refugee raised in Lebanon.
The content of the essay is ideological, autobiographical, and academic in nature.
There is no reference to violence on campus, nor any indication of intent or planning related to criminal activity.
The Institute for Palestine Studies has not issued any statement suggesting the piece is under review or connected to the shooting.
Despite widespread online conjecture, law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Providence Police, have not named Mustapha Kharbouch as a suspect or person of interest, and have publicly stated that there is no evidence linking him to the shooting.
Investigators have emphasized that the case remains active and that conclusions are being guided strictly by verified evidence.
Authorities have cautioned against drawing inferences from online speculation, warning that unsubstantiated claims can compromise investigations and cause undue harm to individuals not implicated by facts.
Media analysts and campus observers have suggested that Brown University’s decision to remove online references may have been taken as a protective or precautionary measure, particularly as misinformation and harassment proliferated across social media platforms following the attack.
Similar actions have been taken by institutions in other high-profile incidents to limit doxxing, targeted harassment, or the misinterpretation of publicly available biographical information during periods of heightened tension.
Brown University has not confirmed whether the removals were temporary, administrative, or safety-related in nature.
Authorities continue to urge the public to rely on confirmed information released by law enforcement and to avoid amplifying unverified narratives.
As of the most recent update, no arrests have been announced, no individuals have been publicly identified as suspects, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with credible information related to the shooting has been asked to contact investigators directly.