The father of a Walgreens store manager who was stabbed by an unruly customer Sunday night spoke to TODAY'S TMJ4 Monday.
"No parent wants to get that call," says Gerald Witherspoon. "Doctors say if the knife would have entered an inch higher, he'd be dead."
Gerald's son, John Witherspoon, was stabbed by a customer at the Walgreens store at 26th and National.
John is in Intensive Care at Froedtert Hospital, in critical but stable condition. The 41-year-old father of three was stabbed in the heart.
"All his friends and coworkers call him Batman," Witherspoon says. "That's John's nickname, because he always wants to help people."
While at work on Sunday night, John was was helping a security guard escort an unruly customer out of Walgreens. Milwaukee Police released surveillance video of that customer, who is now in police custody. Witnesses say he was acting erratic.
"He was flying off the handle, acting unruly," Witherspoon describes. "John told him that he couldn't act like that and would have to leave the store. As he was helping the security guard get the customer out, the man put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a knife, and stabbed my son in the heart."
Investigators have not released any details about the suspect. But Witherspoon doesn't need any. All he's focused on is the health of his son, and getting justice for him.
"He was at work, he wasn't out on the streets," Witherspoon says. "You're supposed to be safe at work. It's a sad sign of our times. Nowhere is safe anymore. Every day you hear about more violence, and I just ask myself, when is it going to stop? Lives change in a split second."
As of Monday night, John Witherspoon started breathing on his own, without the help of a ventilator. He also was alert enough to interact with his family for a while. Doctors say it's going to be a very long recovery.
