Episode 18: Knife-Wielding Woman Stabs 4 In Target Store (2010)

2:00PM Jan 18, 2023

Speakers:

Jason Connell

Sal Rodriguez

Keywords:

target

knives

people

west hollywood

store

grant

mcnamara

sheriff

happened

stabbed

deputy

worse

crime

victims

shopping

duty

podcast

area

sal

aisle

Welcome to Just curious media. This is that's a crime. I'm Jason Connell.

And I'm Sal Rodriguez.

All right, so we're back yet for another crime.

Yeah. In an extra disturbing episode of that's a crime. I do say so myself.

This one hits a little too close to home for you. I

think it does. Because you know, there are certain places, you know, the world's a dangerous place, right. But there are certain places you want to say, or think I can chill out here. I can let my guard down. I can relax and I can breathe, you know, but no, no, apparently not. No longer. There's danger everywhere.

And today, we're breaking down the True Crime Story of the knife wielding woman stabs for and Target store. And 2010 Scary title sounds.

The worst part Jason. And I do mean, it's the worst part. You and I have both been to the store.

This is why we're covering this episode. Sad because I remember when this happened. Whoa,

whoa, I didn't know you brought this to my attention. recently. I do not know about this. Yeah, I

used to go to this exact target store. And we'll get into exactly where that is. But around 2008 I lived in miracle mile area and had my office in Hollywood. And would often if I walked to work sometimes I would just walk Brody. I didn't have Nico then Brody, my chocolate lab credible dog, we would sometimes walk right by this target, and then go up to Highland and where the office was. And I would visit it quite often. That was a bigger target. They had the grocery store. They had everything. So I would go there quite often. And I remember seeing this on the news thinking I gotta watch my back and that target.

Yeah, this target is not just a standalone target. You know, sometimes it's just a giant parking lot and a target. This is different. This is a what is a multiplex Plaza mixed use at the FBI there.

There's a best minute around there. It's a big area. You can walk around. You can walk across the street. This area is dense with shops. Yes.

I was just there about a month ago.

Yeah, you're there more recent than me. Yeah. But let's jump in. So on May 3 2010, Leila Rosetta traywick entered the Target store at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard in La Brea Avenue in West Hollywood, California, and almost immediately garnered two knives from the store and went on a stabbing spree.

I did not know that. You could just grab knives. Right where?

I have not been at this target in a while. I don't know where you can go grab knives. That's what I've read. She didn't come in with knives, which probably would have been easier. But she got them there. Allegedly.

No, no, no. You know, I'm thinking Jason. What's after this? They don't

know. Yeah, no more night. That's what happened. So yeah, I remember like I just said, when this happened, I thought Oh, my God. So I've actually gone to this target, like I mentioned, and I probably need to be a more Alert, Aware shopper and maybe not shop with headphones on if I'm alone. Yeah, because I do that sometimes alone. I'm killing time. I'm bouncing. And now it's like, and I'm always alert. So I'm watching people sizing them up, but you get distracted.

Sure, right. It's only naturally again, it's not a place where you would necessarily think that you should have to have your guard up while you're looking for a shampoo. You know. Yeah. But yeah. This kind of ruins my target experience. So I may just be hanging out at Walmart for a little while. Yeah,

Walgreens. Well, now this Rampage is particularly terrifying because it appears Trey wicks victims were just random customers. It wasn't like this be that went into a Target store. No, it's just any and everybody who's in her path. Suck. Could you imagine just browsing the toy section as you might do? And you're faced with a knife wielding attacker? It's in LA today. So you're thinking like someone's filming something? Is this part of something? I don't know. And you might just be perplexed to what to do there. Yeah,

I mean, having grown up in Los Angeles, I will definitely tell you I've seen some interesting things from life Turkey on a treadmill and a gym, to actual nude people walking down the street. So yes, I have seen interesting things in Los Angeles, and West Hollywood being no exception. You know, West Hollywood is known famously for the annual Halloween gathering Halloween night in West Hollywood. That's the place you want to be in Los Angeles on Halloween, or at least it was for many years. I don't know about where we are today. But once upon a time West Hollywood Halloween, that was the spot.

Wow. I did not know that. Well back to target this be in LA as we've just talked about. Entertainment journalist Alison McNamara was shopping at the store while she encountered a screaming woman in the aisle that separated the skincare and the kitchen section. And according to McNamara, she was yelling, I'm bipolar. There's no witness protection program. So that's a red flag right there and reason to run.

I would think that as soon as you're in a public place and over here, somebody's yelling bipolar. Yeah, that you your antenna is better go up.

Exactly. So then McNamara said she watched helplessly as the woman traywick plunged a knife into the upper back and shoulder of a male shopper who crouched down and covered up to fend off the blows. Well, McNamara also stated you could see where the knife was going into his back, the knife had ridges and a tag on it. See, she was going as fast and strong as she could four to six inches were covered in blood. She looked like she was going to stab everyone there. So this is something straight out of a horror film.

It absolutely is. This is very disturbing. This is one of our most gruesome, most gruesome, I don't think even when we've had murders, because we cover everything from a misdemeanor to a murder. Even when we've covered murders. I don't think we've gotten into this, this level of detail.

Well, that's true. Because even like the trick or treat murder, it's like ding dong answers the door. And you know, he's blown away. And that's the most creepy one that I've heard of. But these were the details. It's kind of creepy when I was reading and I thought, oh my gosh, this is how it laid out because I saw it on the news and just thought, okay, note to self Be careful at that target, or any store like that, and then forgot about it until recently, I thought, oh my gosh, I'm gonna see what happened on that case. And these are the facts. It's really laid out like a script.

Jason if you were to ask people if you were to do a random survey, would you rather be killed by a gun? Or would you rather be killed by a knife? I probably comer Yeah, I would probably go with God. If I had to choose less painful

Yeah, and

less personal to you know if they're looking the eyeballs of the person. Yeah, knife attacks or, or extra gruesome.

So moments later traywick Look straight at McNamara who immediately bolted out of the store with a stampede of other shoppers and employees. McNamara immediately sent a tweet warning people what she had seen so people can get into just accident the store in this fashion.

Oh, yeah. And this is on a second level. By the way. That's true. This target is on the second level because the Best Buy is beneath and other retailers beneath there's like a courtyard area towards his escalators or stairs match the vehicle. People could have fallen over the railing onto the first floor. I mean, you know, when people are in a panic, as we saw recently with a concert, Travis Scott, right, recent concert and people were trampling that kind of thing can happen when it comes to large crowds. You better look out?

Absolutely. Now authorities credited deputy clay grant Jr, who was off duty with preventing additional casualties. But thank goodness none of the four died. But Grant was at the target shopping for paper towels on his day off when he heard screams. Then customers began racing past him toward the exit. And one said somebody has a knife. So his antenna goes off and he's a trained deputy. Right, thank goodness. And then out of the cosmetic aisle. He saw a young woman 34 years old, five 730 pounds to be exact. I put that in there to give you some context. We're in a halter top and flowery pants with a steak knife in one hand and a butcher knife in the other. Well, Sal, I was nervous just reading this. As I said earlier, I'm nervous now.

Yeah, that's creepy. And again, in an environment where you're not expecting this. And again, this officer is off duty. This deputy by the way, didn't say sheriff's deputy yesterday. Okay, so just a little lay of the land for the new person. West Hollywood is its own city. It is in the county of Los Angeles. But it is its own city similar to Burbank or Glendale. I think Pasadena. Pasadena. Yeah. Okay. So their own cities within the greater County. They don't have their own police force. There's no official West Hollywood police. So what they do is they contract with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. Right. So even if you do see a car that says West Hollywood police, those are the LA sheriff's. And believe me, I kept track of this because many years ago, before the decriminalization of marijuana. The City of West Hollywood told their own police do not arrest people for marijuana. And since they contracted with the sheriff's the sheriff said, Okay, fine. So the sheriff's when patrolling the West Hollywood area would be very lenient on marijuana, but then maybe make up for it in other jurisdictions, right. Where they didn't have that same agreement. I guess it was an off record handshake agreement. But yeah, that was the story of the sheriff's and West Hollywood. So yeah, this guy off duty. LA County Sheriff, this could have been his actual jurisdiction. Possibly. Right. So yeah, very interesting and lucky for everybody that this guy was

unbelievable. Well, Grant 26 super young Yeah, then drew his Beretta service weapon and identified himself to traywick as a sheriff's deputy and demanded she dropped the knives. Grant said the woman ran down the aisle turned and dash down for other eyes. else so now he's in pursuit, right? I mean, what the heck is happening here she's got these knives. So then again, he yells, drop your knives. traywick then turned her expression blank and confused clutching the knives. Grant said he recalled his training and decided that from that distance of 20 feet, she was no longer a danger or a threat to him. And he chose not to pull the trigger. traywick then saw the gun probably came to whatever her mind was her blank stare, dropped the knives on the floor. So So I commend him for his calm demeanor. First of all, a lot of people in that situation different results.

Yeah, that could have been a justifiable shot right there.

Right. If she charged at it, well, obviously charged at him. Hey, all bets are off. You got to protect yourself. But so then grant and target security officials restrained and handcuffed traywick. Officials praise grant and sheriff's Captain Michael Parker said we're exceptionally proud of Deputy grant. The reason why this tragic situation wasn't worse was because of the quick thinking of an armed off duty sheriff's deputy who was willing to risk his life to end the situation. Now as for the four people who had been stabbed, which included a woman who was carrying a baby, oh my gosh, thank goodness. First of all, let me just put this out there. That baby was unhurt uninjured, and three of the victims suffered only minor injuries. The most seriously injured victim who I assume was the man who was stabbed multiple times. Please tell me that was as bad as it got was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in critical condition that's very close to there as well. Not too far away. Cedars Sinai it is. And he did show signs of approvement later that evening, which is a Monday evening. So unfortunately, that's where the information stops on the victims, because that was reported nowhere. So he made it. He got through it. I mean, listen, he was badly injured, though. Let's be honest, multiple stab wounds in your back. You could have punctured so many different things. I don't know how he's doing today. But I know that he's alive. Yeah. But so so scary. Could have easily been tragic. Yeah. Just think if grants not there. She keeps running down aisles. I know more people. Thank goodness, they're outside now. Yeah. But people are probably hiding inside Sal. You're taking refuge anywhere underneath clothes, racks or whatever. So I mean, this is out of a movie and a movie you do not want to see or experience in real life. This is terrifying.

And you know, what would have happened? Had it not been for the off duty sheriff? She Yes, she would have continued stabbing? Most likely. Yep. And then the patrol cars would have arrived. Yeah. And she probably would have been shot. Absolutely. That's probably what would have happened. So we're at not for this off duty sheriff. This could have gotten even worse than it wound up.

Yeah. Well, when something like this occurs, there really isn't a playbook of what to do. Where to go. Where to hide? I mean, even in today's game, Mrs. 2010. We've had a lot more unfortunately, tragic incidences since then. But really, I've not luckily faced one yet. Like you think what would I do in a situation like this? Right? We all watch movies and think what if you're, but then it's like, you really don't want to be in this situation, trust me. But really, you don't know what to do. And what makes it worse sometimes is bad intel. Right? So for instance, was Hollywood Sheriff Sergeant Josh mankini. stated they responded after numerous 911 calls reported a gunman at the target. Official speculate the gunman was probably grant, and there was a panic in the store. mankini said, noting witnesses outside the store initially believed there had been a shooting. He went on to say everyone and their brother was calling 911. So now the cops are going in looking for a gunman, right, and then grants off duty. And they don't know who the heck this guy is holding a gun. So it's just horrible situation could have gotten much, much worse. Yeah,

because the cops could have arrived shot not only the perpetrator with the knives, right. But the sheriff. Yeah, it could have gotten so much worse. Yeah,

yeah, she could have held someone hostage and then just escalated it don't know, we're lucky it was only this bad. And hopefully there's means in place. And like you said earlier that knives are no longer on a display case for one can grab them. There's probably tighter security and I'm not just picking on this target. I just mean across the nation. Hopefully there's better security systems and things go off or it's shocking that this could happen in this area. And 2010

Yeah, well, you know, you have to be aware. Look out. You know what, not just knife wielding maniacs like this. Like one time I was at I forgot if it was Walgreens or Rite Aid one of these stores and I was bending down to grab something and I looked above me and I noticed that there were some dumbbells So they had like, put some dumbbells workout dumbbells. Here on the second shelf. Yeah, high and I'm low. And I looked up and I was like, I should not be here. You know, I shouldn't be underneath these dumbbells, you know. So that stuff happens a lot. One time I was at Goodwill, I saw a bowling ball and a high shelf. So yeah, you again, you're not thinking this stuff when you're out there shopping and browsing. But now you got to look out I, you know, I got to think of like, if our podcast does anything, it's to create awareness that you got to be aware, you got to look over your shoulder, you got to watch your back. You got to be cognizant of your surroundings, wherever you are, because not just a bowling ball, obviously, but people like this people either evil or people deranged.

Right, which we'll get into. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you gotta look. I like to think that my martial arts training would kick and then again, you don't want to be in that situation as my sensei is have told me over the years like, you learn it, you know it, you never want to use it. Take a step back. Always take a step back retreat. So yeah, that's not my first instinct. But unless something was about to happen, then you would hope that muscle memory kicks in but trust me you do not want even see it happen. I would be plagued with nightmares forever. If I had even just seen it, like McNamara had seen like, just those images probably have never left her. Yeah. So yeah, they're all leaving more injured, more damage, just having gone through this experience.

So you are trained in martial arts? What if you had an attacker, let's say this woman or somebody similar, and you had to defend yourself and you maybe had to use lethal force to defend yourself? And even though you were justifiable in your self defense? Well, you got to live with that. You got to carry that. You know, a friend of mine accidentally ran someone over he was driving down the street minding his own business completely legal. Somebody jumped right in front of the car. Not in a crosswalk. Nope. Nope. It was dark. It was night this person walked right in front of my friend's car. He killed him. That's terrible. He died. And you know what, my friend had to live with this forever. Manslaughter or anything? No, no, even the police everybody at the scene were like, this was a horrible accident, not your fault. I don't even think of my friend Philip. Yeah. I don't even know if there was a court case. I don't know. But he didn't have any repercussions for this. It was declared an accident. But he had to carry that with them forever, though. Of course. Yeah. He delivers. So you don't

want and it could have been worse. What if they said, You know, I don't know you were speeding five miles over the limit. It could have been much worse. I was terrible. And unfortunately, a life was lost but very scary. Yes, you always have to look out well. As for Leila Rosetta traywick. She was held on a $1 million bond. And then in 2013, she pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. However, Judge Antonio Beretta Jr. Found her not guilty by reason of insanity and remanded her to the Patton State Hospital to serve a 16 year, eight month sentence.

So the implication is that she is there as we speak,

that is the implication sentence and 2013 times still being served. Now according to Trey wicks family, she suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and that they had been trying to get her help her mother stated, I've been trying to get her institutionalized for years, and the mental hospitals just kept releasing her. She has been in and out of them since she was 16 sound, this whole thing is just tragic.

It brings to mind this could have possibly been avoided, right? Maybe had she received the proper care or treatment or institutionalization. Now had she been where she maybe should have been, then this whole thing maybe wouldn't have happened? Oh, yeah. This is just a is a bad tale just all around it is and I do wonder though, when they do release their Okay, so what was her time she was given again?

16 years 2013 2920 2020 29 bond. So give or take, right?

Well, let me tell you something when they do release her, which will happen at some point. I hope she's okay. I hope she's better. I hope they give her proper medication, treatment, whatever needs to be done, so that she's not a danger to herself, or your eye.

Yes. Yeah, that's what I like about this show. We really cover a wide range and this happened in my neighborhood and I thought, wow, that is a crime. It's interesting to brings awareness. Some crimes are funny. Some of these misdemeanors are more comical, some others are darker, and there's lots of murders and this is in between because it could have been much worse. It makes you think, which is a good thing. And it's quite a tragic tale. Yeah,

I go to target a lot because of how many locations we have surrounded me they're everywhere. Now Kmart says no more K Mart's now no Sears no more Sears the Walmart's around me there's not really that many Walmart's they're kind of far. Yeah. So I will still try to enjoy my targets but believe me, I think of them a little bit different now.

Well, according to target there is a videotape of the incident but it was never released. Wow. That's um TMZ would usually get their hands on but again, different time and maybe This was the cops just like this is not getting that now you would assume this is 2020. Someone's got a phone. They had phones in 2010. But there's just a lot more people grabbing and recording even in danger in this day and age. So I don't need to see that footage. But just knowing it exists made this even creepier to me.

I think if this were to happen today, though, I'm pretty sure that even your average amateur web videographer is going to run. They're not going to stand there to videotape a person wielding a knife. They're going to hightail it out of there. They'd be

outside and you have a lot of footage of people outside target. Right? They'd start filming then like where McNamara was sending a tweet when she's found safety. That's what you would get you'd see years ago for a tweet see the look on their face. Oh, that's Yeah, exactly. Right. That was a different time. So anyway, that's all I got on the knife wielding woman steps for and Target store 2010.

Leila, I hope you're okay. I hope that you are getting help, and treatment. And I hope that you can maybe one day lead a happy life, I hope that one day you can lead a normal, happy, healthy life. And all of us can rest easy, you know, out there in public.

I agree. I totally agree. And same goes for all the victims, those who were stabbed, as well as those that just saw it or ran or worked at the target and had to show up the next day and go to work and deal with that. So there's just everyone's impacted when something like this just happened, something so out of the ordinary, so surreal. It's probably haunted a lot of people since this day, I wonder

if all these corporations, for example, when they have a tragedy at a school, they have counselors come in, I wonder what hope I wonder if maybe target this target sponsor, you know, counseling after something like this, it's a

big company, you think you would do something? I'm sure some people quit. I mean, that's just standard, right? You would think?

Well, the only thing that I do rely on and I tell friends this and I've been saying this for years, if a person goes to a restaurant and gets food poisoning, and people go, I'm not gonna go to that restaurant. No, actually, you probably can go to that restaurant now. Because lightnings probably not gonna strike twice. You're probably not going to get food poisoning if you go to a restaurant that was busted for food poisoning. So I have been to this target since this happened. Many times, not knowing about this, but no problems other than the parking structure itself, which is underground, subterranean. Validate the whole thing. But so I've been to this target many times, I've been to many targets across multiple states many times. So I'm a big lover of target. Shout out to target sorry this happened. But everybody Hey, no matter who you are, no matter where you are, look up.

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