DETROIT — A Michigan man charged with attempted murder in the stabbings of three other passengers and a conductor aboard an Amtrak train needs psychological help, his grandmother said Sunday.
Ethel Williams, 89, told The Associated Press during a phone interview that her grandson Michael Williams was never the same after military service and that the 44-year-old Saginaw man once told her "it seemed like everywhere he goes people was following him."
"They need to see what's wrong," Ethel Williams said "It had to be something wrong with that boy."
Michael Williams was being held Sunday in the Berrien County Jail on a $1 million bond pending an initial court appearance scheduled for Monday. He is charged with four counts of attempted murder.
He was one of the 172 passengers on the train that was headed from Chicago to Port Huron, northeast of Detroit. The stabbings occurred while the train was stopped Friday night at a depot in Niles in southwestern Michigan, about 10 miles north of South Bend, Indiana.
Niles police officers had been rushing to the depot after Amtrak reported one of the passengers was acting suspiciously. Officers forced their way into one of the train cars after seeing a commotion inside, Police Chief Jim Millin said Saturday.
"As soon as the first officer turned into the car, Mr. Williams was less than 10 feet away and he had the knife in his hand," Millin said. "The officer used his Taser and was able to subdue" him.
No motive for the attack was released Sunday. The injured passengers and conductor were in stable condition at area hospitals, according to police.
Ethel Williams said she has not seen her grandson "in a long time." She said he had spent 10 years in the Army, but didn't know when he came out of military service.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jeff Pool was not able Sunday to verify if Williams served in the military.
