Walmart Stabbing Lawsuit Alleges 51 Minutes of Missed Warnings Before Belleville Shoppers Were Attacked
A violent stabbing inside the Walmart Supercenter at 2608 Green Mount Commons Drive in Belleville has now become the center of a lawsuit alleging that the attack was not only terrifying, but preventable.
Hipskind & McAninch, LLC has filed suit in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County, Illinois on behalf of Aaron Gilmer, one of two Walmart customers who suffered life-threatening injuries during the February 20, 2025 attack. The lawsuit names Walmart Stores, Inc., Walmart’s contracted security providers, and the alleged assailant as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, police reports, and surveillance footage reviewed by attorneys involved in the case, the suspect entered the Walmart at approximately 7:03 p.m., went directly to the hardware section, removed a folding knife from Walmart’s own merchandise display, and then remained inside the store for nearly an hour before the attack.
For 51 minutes, the lawsuit alleges, the man moved through the store with an unsheathed knife, interacted with Walmart employees, behaved erratically, and even spoke with Walmart’s trained security personnel. Despite those warning signs, the lawsuit claims that no one took the steps required to protect shoppers—including notifying management, contacting police, or following Walmart’s own chain-of-command procedures for a safety threat.
At approximately 7:54 p.m., the suspect allegedly attacked Aaron Gilmer, stabbing him in the back.
Just four seconds later, he ran down the aisle and stabbed another shopper, Ronica Drain, in the chest. Mrs. Drain was shopping with her family at the time. In addition to her severe physical injuries, the attack caused trauma to family members who were present.
Emergency responders transported both victims to local hospitals for treatment of life-threatening injuries. Police later located the suspect outside the store and apprehended him while he still possessed the knife. According to police reports, the assailant later admitted to recent methamphetamine use after being taken into custody.
Lawsuit Alleges Walmart Ignored Obvious Warning Signs
The lawsuit filed by Hipskind & McAninch centers on what allegedly happened before the attack—and what the store and its security team failed to do.
According to the lawsuit and police reports, during the 51 minutes before the stabbing, the assailant allegedly:
- removed the knife from its packaging,
- walked through multiple sections of the store,
- discarded much of his clothing and behaved erratically,
- spoke with multiple Walmart employees,
- openly displayed the knife while asking a store employee, “Is this the biggest knife you got?”,
- spoke with Walmart’s contracted, trained security personnel with the knife visible minutes before the attack,
- and remained in the store while no effective safety response was initiated.
According to the lawsuit, once store personnel reported a customer displaying a knife, Walmart’s own security protocols required immediate notification of management and law enforcement. The lawsuit alleges that did not happen—and as a result, two unsuspecting customers were left exposed to a threat that should have triggered an emergency response long before the first stabbing occurred.
“Our client was simply shopping in a store where he had every right to feel safe,” said John Hipskind of Hipskind & McAninch. “Businesses that invite customers into their stores have a duty to implement reasonable security measures to protect those customers. We believe there were systemic failures that allowed this violent attack to occur.”
Attorney Brady McAninch said the case fits into a broader pattern of accountability for large retailers when security failures allow preventable violence. “Across the country, juries have recognized that large retailers can and should be held accountable when inadequate security leads to preventable violence. Businesses that profit from the public must take reasonable steps to keep that public safe,” McAninch said.
What This Case Says About Store Safety
Cases like this raise an important question for every large retailer: What happens when a warning sign is visible before violence occurs?
No store can guarantee that nothing dangerous will ever happen inside its walls. But safety policies, trained employees, security teams, and emergency procedures exist for a reason. They are supposed to help a business recognize a threat before it becomes a tragedy.
That is especially important in a large retail environment, where families, children, elderly shoppers, and employees may all be present at the same time. Customers are not watching for security threats while they shop for groceries, household items, or school supplies. They are relying on the business to take reasonable action when something is clearly wrong.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Aaron Gilmer argues that this was not a split-second emergency with no chance to respond. It alleges there were repeated opportunities to recognize the danger, follow established safety procedures, and call for help before two shoppers were stabbed.
For Hipskind & McAninch, the case is about accountability—and about the basic expectation that when a business invites the public inside, it must take visible threats seriously before someone gets hurt.
As reported by KSDK/ 5 On Your Side
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premises liability, premises liability attorney [lawyer], security, walmart