In 2013, Leon Walls stabbed Michael Turner's friend on a Pittsburgh street. Turner and three other men went looking for Walls shortly after the stabbing, planning to hold him for police. Turner heard that the man had gone inside a nearby Target, in East Liberty, so Turner and the men followed. Once inside, they found Walls, who then grabbed 16-year-old Allison Meadows and began stabbing her with a knife. Turner and the men jumped into action and stopped the attack. Allison's father, Glen Meadows, considers Turner a hero.
"I thank him," Meadows told News Channel 9. "I thank him every time I see him."
The Meadows family sued Target for not having adequate security. Target launched a suit of its own against Turner, claiming that his reckless actions caused danger to shoppers inside the store. According to the court documents, Target claims that Turner and the three men chased the man into the store carrying baseball bats.
Turner's trial is set to begin Monday, and the Meadows family, who live in Tennessee and were visiting in Pittsburgh when the attack happened, plan to make the trek to support Turner.
Walls was sentenced to 20 years for the stabbings, CBS Pittsburgh reports. During his sentencing, Judge Donna Jo McDaniel criticized Target for suing Turner, noting that the mega chain store was going after the "heroes" in an attempt to make the victims back down from their lawsuit.
Read more at News Channel 9 and CBS Pittsburgh.