Witnesses Speak About Coming To Mark Costello's Aid

The Oklahoman reports:

The Apprehension Of Christian Costello

WARR ACRES — Mike Walkup struggles to find the words for what he witnessed Sunday evening.

That’s when Walkup, a freshman English teacher and head wrestling coach at Putnam City High School, made a trip to a Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Store on May Avenue in northwest Oklahoma City to grab dessert for dinner at his girlfriend’s house.

While shopping for ice cream, Walkup heard a commotion on the opposite side of the store. Stepping out from behind the shelves blocking his view, Walkup saw the gruesome scene of an older man on the ground being stabbed repeatedly by a younger man.

“Christian, stop!” Walkup heard.

“My mind instantly switched to thinking about what I could do to stop the situation,” Walkup recalled Tuesday.

Braums shopper, Mike Walkup, tells
how random people eventually stopped
the attack on Mark Costello

He reached for a nearby shopping cart, and with the attacker facing him, thought he could separate the two men.

Meanwhile, the victim — Oklahoma state Labor Commissioner Mark Costello — managed to get to his feet and stagger outside. Mark Costello’s son, Christian Costello, is accused in the stabbing of his father.

Walkup said he continued to search for a solution when Mark Costello managed to climb into a white van where a second attack occurred. The victim then pushed his way out of the van, making a trip around the store where a truck twice tried to cut off the attacker, bumping him once in the drive-thru.

“He seemed oblivious to everything else,” Walkup said. “He wasn’t saying anything, he wasn’t reacting to anything. He was just stalking (Mark Costello).”

The truck made a third attempt to cut the attacker off, veering him towards a brick wall on the south edge of the parking lot. The attacker then sat on the top of the wall, gesturing for the truck to stay out of his way.

Walkup made his way over the wall, hoping to sneak up on the attacker from behind and pull him to the ground. As Walkup got within what he estimates to be 10 feet, the attacker jumped down from the wall and began pursuing the victim once again.

“If I don’t do something right now, this guy is going to die for sure,” Walkup thought.

Walkup punched the attacker in the face, sending him staggering back into an open area of the parking lot where he was struck by the same truck that had tried to cut him off.

“If I don’t do something right now, this guy is going to die for sure,”

Walkup and several other witnesses pinned the attacker to the ground, tying his wrists together with belts to restrain him.

Police arrived shortly after to make the arrest. Mark Costello was pronounced dead at a hospital Sunday night.

“I’ve had friends and family tell me I’m brave, a hero or just how proud they are of me for trying to help,” Walkup said. “But I don’t associate anything positive with what happened. Right now, I’m just thinking about what more I could have done. Could I have reacted sooner and saved his life?

“Maybe later in life I’ll look back and think of it differently, but for now it’s really hard for me to even put into words. I keep reliving it in my head. It’s brought out a lot of emotions, seeing something like that stays with you for life."

David Van Risseghem

Read the full report at the Oklahoman:  http://www.oklahoman.com/article/5442486?access=85dcdd71f5198b440f3c54c65b6db306