Coach Helps Stop Brutal Attack That Killed State Labor Commissioner

A Putnam City Schools English teacher and wrestling coach risked his own life to help take down homicide suspect Christian Costello.

Wednesday, August 26th 2015, 6:50 pm



A Putnam City Schools English teacher and wrestling coach risked his own life to help take down homicide suspect Christian Costello.

Costello is accused of stabbing his father, state Labor Commissioner Mark Costello.

Michael Walkup had just made a quick run the Braum’s on N. May Avenue to pick up some dessert. He was inside the store when he saw Christian Costello attack his father.

“I see this younger guy standing over this older guy and stabbing him,” Walkup said Wednesday. “The older guy is saying ‘Stop, Christian. Stop.'”

Walkup took action, grabbing a shopping cart, hoping to push it in between the two men, but they ran out of the store.

“I just saw him just stalking his dad across the parking lot. There was no yelling, he wasn’t running, screaming anything like that. The dad was just kind of hobbling, trying to escape him,” Walkup said.

That's when Mark Costello ran to his van. His wife was inside. Here, Christian Costello attacked his dad again several times.

Mark Costello pushed his son away and got out of the van. They circled the Braum's again, the younger Costello even pausing to sit on a wall.

Walkup jumped over the wall and tried to grab him.

“I think I can go around and pull him down from the back of his shirt and as I’m getting around to him and I wasn’t very far, a couple more seconds I would have been able to get to him,” Walkup said.

Christian Costello, however, jumped down and ran toward his dad this time, attacking him again inside the family's van.

“I kind of catch up to him after he’s stabbed him two or three, four times," Walkup said. "I hit him in the side of the face, he kind of staggers back and I kind of get back out of the way because he still has the knife at that point.”

That's when the driver of a pickup rammed Christian Costello with it.

“(The) knife goes flying out of his hand, he goes to the ground for a second, hops back up," Walkup said. "I kind of grab him and put him against not the same van a van next to it, turn him around on the van, but him on the ground and almost immediately four or five people jump on him.”

That's when several bystanders took off their belts and restrained Christian Costello.

“You can talk about safety, but you also have to weigh the regret about not doing anything,” Walkup said. 

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