Target SUES hero who fended off knife-wielding attacker stabbing 16-year-old girl at checkout. Chain claims rescue effort put 'too many lives at risk'

• Michael Turner, 50, faces lawsuit from big box store after helping tackle Leon Walls, 44, during a March 2013 incident in East Liberty, Pennsylvania 
• Store says that Turner and two other men brought 'risk of harm to others' when they pursued Walls inside store following an earlier stabbing
• Family of victim Allison Meadows is suing Target for weak security and says that store is trying to find someone else to blame 
• Walls found guilty of attempted homicide and awaits sentencing

By Christopher Brennan For Dailymail.com

Published: 19:55 EST, 21 July 2015 | Updated: 02:05 EST, 22 July 2015

Despite his heroic effort to fight off a knife-wielding attacker from a then-16-year-old girl, Target is suing a man who stopped a stabbing in one of their Pittsburgh-area stores.

Michael Turner, 50, was at the big box chain's location in East Liberty when he confronted attacker Leon Walls, 44, and wrestled him away from his victim Allison Meadows.

Walls had rushed into the Target and was pursued by a group of men including Turner before he grabbed the teenage girl as a hostage and stabbed her twice before the dramatic intervention.

Turner is now speaking out after blamed him and the other men for the attack.

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Michael Turner is being sued by Target after stopping a knife attack in a Pittsburgh-area store. Above, he holds a one-man protest outside the store last week

 

Leon Walls, (left) 44, was found guilty last month on charges including attempted homicide after grabbing Allison Meadows (right) during the March 2013 incident

The attacker was found guilty last month of charges including attempted homicide for the March 2013 incident, though was also found mentally ill.

Video surveillance of the event showed Meadows's mother looking on in horror as her daughter was taken near the store's checkout line.

A group of bystanders including Turner and his friends were able to rush at Walls and take him down, preventing any more harm to the teen.

Police arrived and used pepper spray to take the stabbing suspect into custody. 

However, Target says Turner and his friends caused 'unreasonable risk of harm to others' when they pursued and ultimately helped capture the attacker.

The company claims in its suit that the pursuit of Walls led to Meadows's stabbing, according to WTAE. 

 

Homeless man's frenzied knife attack on teen in Target

 

 

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Surveillance footage of the attack showed Walls (right) grabbing Meadows after running into the Target with a knife

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Bystanders including Turner rushed at Walls and were able to keep him from attacking anyone else until the police arrived

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Walls had stabbed another man, Jobe Wright, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity on an attempted homicide charge. Above, police arrest Walls after the checkout line attack

He, his friend Jobe Wright who was stabbed by Walls two blocks away, and two other men had brought the bat inside while looking for Walls. 

Wright and one of the friends, Roland Smith, are also named in the suit.  

'I feel very sad inside. Now, you got to think twice when it comes to helping someone. You may get sued,' Turner told WPXI. 

He added that he injured his pelvis as a result of the incident when Walls allegedly rammed him with a shopping cart.

Turner staged a one-man protest at the location last week and carried a sign that said 'Target Sues Stabbing Victim Hero'.

While originally saying that he did not have enough money for a lawyer, he has since received representation from attorney Todd Hollis.

'Target doesn’t have adequate security in the building and this man risks his life, and instead of a thank you, he gets slapped with a lawsuit,' the lawyer told CBS Pittsburgh.

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'Instead of a thank you, he gets slapped with a lawsuit,' Turner's lawyer said of his clients treatment by Target. Above, the wreckage caused in the store

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Meadows recovered after spending time in a Pennsylvania hospital and will play softball when she goes to college in Tennessee this fall

A lawyer for Meadows, who was visiting the Pittsburgh area from Tennessee and recovered after time in a local hospital, also took issue with the suit and said that her family was thankful that Turner was in the store. 

'We have sued Target, because they failed to keep Allison safe. Suing Michael Turner is just Target's way of trying to blame someone else for what happened under their own roof,' Meadows's lawyer said.

'The family certainly doesn't blame Mr. Turner, and they are thankful he was there that day.'

Meadows, now 18, is now heading to college in Tennessee and will play softball this fall. 

A spokesman for Target said that they company 'disputes Mr. Turner's version of events', according to the New York Daily News.

The company added that they do not comment on active litigation.

Walls has not yet been sentenced after being found guilty. 

His public defender said that he suffered from schizophrenia and he was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted homicide charge in Wright's stabbing, according to the Post-Gazette.

He was found guilty but mentally ill for an aggravated assault against Wright.

Being found mentally ill means that Walls will be incarcerated, but he will have access to mental health services in prison. 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3170164/Target-sues-hero-man-fended-mentally-knife-attacker-grabbed-16-year-old-girl-hostage-near-checkout-line-saying-blame-stabbing.html#ixzz3gcFW6FAw
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