A passenger on an Amtrak train stabbed four people before being apprehended by Niles police Friday evening on a train parked at the Niles Amtrak Station.

The Berrien County Prosecutor’s office has authorized preliminary charges of assault with intent to murder against Michael Darnell Williams, 44, of Saginaw.

Each charge holds a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Williams is being held at the Berrien County Jail with a $1 million cash only bond.

An elderly gentleman who was stabbed in the chest was taken to an area hospital in serious condition, Millin said. The other three victims, including one female, were transported to area hospitals for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. One of the male victims was a train conductor.

As of Sunday, all four victims are reported to be in stable condition.

Millin said Niles Police received a call from Amtrak in Chicago at around 7 p.m. advising that a subject on the train was acting odd.

The stabbing occurred while police were in route to the Niles station. Police arrived and boarded the stopped train where they used a tazer to apprehend the suspect.

Millin said the suspect, who was traveling alone, boarded the train in Chicago in route to Flint and from there would have

headed to Saginaw.

Prior to the stabbing, passengers and conductors noticed the suspect was talking to himself and acting agitated.

“Why or what exactly set him off I have no idea,” Millin said.

Passenger Caitlin Cipri said she was sitting about five rows back from where the stabbing occurred. The train had been stopped for several minutes when it happened.

She heard someone yelling and saw a man stabbing another man who was sitting in a seat in the front row.

“He stopped stabbing the guy in front and lurched forward toward two other women sitting two rows back,” she said. “At that point I got out of my seat and ran toward the exit.

“It was terrifying. You just don’t think something like that will happen to you.”

Nineteen-year-old Tyler Vandermolan was seated about 10 rows back from where the incident occurred.

“I saw the perpetrator go after a man in the front seat across the aisle,” he said. “At first I thought he was throwing punches… but then I saw him raise up with what I thought was a knife.”

At that point, Vandermolan said everyone began running.

“I dove out the side door of the train,” said the Northwestern University student who was heading home to Gull Lake for Christmas break.

The incident is making Vandermolan think twice about taking the train back to school.

“I was talking to a lady next to me about that. I think we are both sworn off taking the train,” he said. “Going to take the car instead.”