Target Suing Man Who Saved Teen Girl from Stabbing in Its Store

transgender, AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File
AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File

In 2013, everyone agreed that Michael Turner saved the life of a teenaged girl who was attacked in a Pennsylvania Target store. Now, Target is suing him.

When she was sixteen, Allison Meadows was shopping in an East Liberty, Pennsylvania, Target store when Leon Walls rushed into the outlet and stabbed her.

With the assistance of surveillance video, Walls was convicted of attempted homicide for his attack on the girl.

The only reason the girl did not suffer more injuries is because Michael Turner interceded and, along with several other men, confronted Walls. Turner himself chased Walls out the store with a baseball bat.

Unsurprisingly, Meadows was extremely thankful for Turner’s efforts.

“I thank him,” Meadows has said. “I thank him every time I see him.”

But Meadows launched a lawsuit against Target, saying the store’s lack of security put all shoppers, not just her, in danger.

Target, however, is less grateful for Mr. Turner’s heroics. And now the retailer is suing him for “endangering” the store’s customers.

According to the company’s filing, Target says Turner and several others chased the suspect toward the store’s entrance after the attack on the girl. The store insists Turner put other shoppers at risk with his actions.

The victim of the stabbing and her family are furious with the retail chain and say Target is just trying to shift the blame away from its own security failures.

“Suing Michael Turner is just Target’s way of trying to blame someone else for what happened under their own roof,” the Meadows family attorney said. “The family certainly doesn’t blame Mr. Turner and they are thankful he was there that day.”

Target is already getting negative publicity; the chain is the subject of a major boycott effort due to its announcement that it is allowing men to use women’s bathrooms and changing rooms.

Despite the uproar over its decision–not to mention the loss of up to $6 billion in stock valuesTarget doubled down on its policy.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.

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