TROY, Mich. (WXYZ) — Troy police are looking for a 31-year-old man who reportedly attacked a woman outside a Target store in Troy last Friday. According to police, the incident happened around 9 p.m. and when they arrived on scene they found a single victim with injuries to her face and a witness who helped stop the assault.
According to police, the person of interest is 31-year-old Andrew Hall. He was last seen wearing a green baseball hat, a gray shirt, and red shorts. Hall is considered armed and dangerous so police are asking anyone who spot him to not approach him but instead call 911.
Any person with further information on his whereabouts are encouraged to contact the Troy Police Department tipline at 248.524.0777.
"I can't imagine having a gun to my head and fighting," a woman who came to the victim's aid said.
The victim in this situation fought back against her attacker, according to the Troy Police Department.
The woman who helped her after the fact didn't want to give her name for safety purposes, but she says what it came down to was an extraordinary will to survive.
"I think a lot of times in movies when they have a gun to your head, they say, 'Don't move.' 'Don't say a word.' But in this case, it saved her life," the woman who helped the victim said.
Police say a man allegedly attacked the woman in a Target parking lot in Troy near Coolidge Highway and Maple Road.
The victim described the suspect as approximately 30 years old who is tall with a thin build. He was wearing red shorts and a pale blue T-shirt. Video shows the man in the parking lot with a black backpack and a green hat.
The witness says she didn't see the attack, nor did she see the man's face, but she did hear the woman's frantic screams.
She says she drove around the parking lot until she found where it was coming from.
"I helped her out of the car and we sat on the ground and at that point, I looked up and I saw a man there on the phone and I said, 'Are you calling 911?' She explained a little bit about what happened and I noticed her eye was very, very injured and looked incredibly painful. Her neck was also all red," the woman who helped the victim said.
According to police, the suspect punched the woman in the face. Then, he pulled the gun out of his waistband.
A person who witnessed the alleged attack and saw the man reportedly scared him off.
"I think while we were sitting there, it did cross my mind like maybe he's hiding in this parking lot. And it is interesting because the people were just shopping and doing their curbside pickups. The sun was still out and it was very busy, " the woman said.
"She (the victim) was parked right by other cars. It's not like she was parked by herself in the back."
She says she's bonded to the victim and thinks about her every day.
The attacker's motive is unclear, according to police.
The woman who spoke to 7 Action News says when the victim was defending herself, the suspect allegedly called her crazy and she told him, "'I'm a mom."
"She said I am not crazy. I need to live," the woman said.
People who live in the community and the woman who spoke to us wonder why it took police three days to release the suspect's photo.
We reached out to Troy police and they declined an interview and told us they were still gathering the facts.
Police are looking for information that will help them find the suspect. If you recognize him or know something, call 248-524-0777.
