[ad_1]
SUNNYVALE – A former army sniper struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder launched his car at high speed into a group of pedestrians in a suburb of Silicon Valley, injuring eight people, then told the authorities that he had intentionally hit him, police said.
Isaiah Joel Peoples, 34, did not explain why he targeted the group in Sunnyvale, California, officials said. He was detained on Thursday on eight counts of attempted murder. Four of the pedestrians remained hospitalized, including a 13-year-old girl in critical condition. Peoples was scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
A witness said he watched in horror as the car passed through a pedestrian crossing in a shopping area on Tuesday night and the corpses flew away. It was a hot night, around dinner time, and people were in cafes and restaurants.
"I saw this woman flying in the air right in front of me, she spilled and fell right in front of my car," Don Draper said. He headed for Peoples' car, which had spread on a sidewalk and crashed against a tree. He said the people did not seem drunk but looked stunned and mumbled incessantly: "Thank you Jesus, thank you, thank you Jesus."
Sunnyvale police chief Phan Ngo refused to discuss the details of the interviews with Peoples and said the police were still working to determine his motivation.
"When we put him in detention, he did not behave so weird," Ngo said. "He showed no remorse."
Although the FBI is participating in the investigation, there is no evidence linking the people and a terrorist organization and, so far, no evidence of a federal crime, said Ngo, who said the people had recovered food and that she was about to deliver it to her. his Bible study group.
Investigators dealt with the evidence found Wednesday during a search in Peoples' apartment in Sunnyvale, about 80 km south of San Francisco. The police also gave him a blood test to detect the presence of drugs and checked with family members that he had a history of mental illness.
Family and friends described Peoples as being calm and polite and expressed their astonishment at his involvement.
His mother, Leevell Peoples of Sacramento, said she could not imagine a situation in which her son would deliberately crush innocent people other than by an event related to PTSD that she would have lived after serving in Iraq.
"Except in the event of a malfunctioning car, he would not have done so, he is a model and perfect citizen," she said.
His son graduated from the State University of Sacramento after returning from Iraq in 2007 and was working as an auditor for the Defense Department of the neighboring Mountain View district, a she said.
"Basically, he probably does not have friends, but the people he works with," she said. "He is a veteran of the army.He's a good kid, he's never been arrested.I promise you: this was not deliberate." whatever it was, it was this army. "
She said Peoples had had "a bad episode" with PTSD in 2015, for which he had been hospitalized, and had told him that he had been taking medication regularly ever since.
The mother said that the army forced her son to retire because of PTSD. The Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, confirmed that he was retiring from the army.
Peoples served as Civil Affairs Specialist on the Army Reserve from March 2004 to July 2009 and reached the rank of Sergeant. He was deployed to Iraq from June 2005 to May 2006, according to another Pentagon spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Emanuel Ortiz. He did not answer the question of whether the departure of the populations of the army was due to PTSD.
Ngo said that on Thursday, Peoples had been released honorably from the army and that the police were investigating the PTSD report. He added that Peoples had no criminal record and possessed only one weapon, a disassembled and unusable shotgun, which was in the trunk of his vehicle.
Other evidence was consistent with Draper's, that the driver was speeding and heading straight for pedestrians without trying to get away or stop.
Six people were taken to the hospital, including the youngest victim, a 9-year-old boy who was treated and released.
Miguel Balbuena, 15, is waiting for his bike ride when he heard a woman screaming. He tried to free himself but failed. He is on crutches after a metal pole has squeezed his leg.
"This is not something that we see every day," he told KTVU television channel, saying it was like a movie scene. "It was really hard to see."
The former roommate of Isaiah Peoples, Chuck Herrera, described him as silent – someone who was to be persuaded to go out for a drink or dinner. He said that Peoples was kind to Herrera's youngest son.
He remembers that Peoples "always had a lot of pills" and a cough.
"The guy I met was not someone who, in your opinion, will hurt anyone," he said. "I guess something has happened."
___
Har reported from San Francisco. Associate Press Editors Olga R. Rodriguez and Juliet Williams in San Francisco also contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link