A former US Army sharpshooter with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on Tuesday evening plowed his car at high speed into a group of pedestrians in a quiet Silicon Valley suburb, injuring eight people, including three children, and then told authorities that he intentionally hit them, but has not said why.
Police in Sunnyvale, California, on Wednesday said that Isaiah Joel Peoples, 34, was being held on eight counts of attempted murder.
Four of the victims remained hospitalized with major injuries, including a 13-year-old girl in critical condition.
The youngest victim, a nine-year-old boy, was treated and released with minor injuries. A 15-year-old boy was treated and released by paramedics.
Don Draper, 72, that he watched in horror as Peoples’ car sped through a crosswalk in a Sunnyvale shopping area and bodies went flying.
It was a warm night, around dinner time and people were out in cafes and restaurants in the area.
“I saw this woman fly through the air right in front of me. She flipped upside down and then fell right in front of my car,” Draper said, adding that he was so enraged, he marched over to Peoples’ car, which had swerved onto a sidewalk and crashed into a tree.
He said that Peoples did not appear drunk, but looked dazed and was mumbling over and over: “Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.”
Authorities were still trying to determine a motive, Sunnyvale police Captain Jim Choi said.
There was no evidence linking Peoples to any terrorist organization, but the crash was deliberate, he said.
“He did intentionally try to run over the people,” Choi said. “He did not express any remorse, as far as we can tell.”
Authorities were processing evidence found in a search of Peoples’ Sunnyvale apartment on Wednesday and had given him a blood test to determine if drugs were in his system, Choi said, adding that they were investigating accounts from family members that he had a history of mental illness.
His mother, Leevell Peoples, said she could not imagine any situation in which her son would deliberately crash into innocent people other than something related to the PTSD she said he experienced after serving as a US Army sharpshooter in Iraq.
She said her son graduated from Sacramento State University after returning from Iraq in 2007 and was working as an auditor for the US Department of Defense in nearby Mountain View.
“He basically probably has no friends, but the people he works with,” she said. “He’s an army vet, he’s a good kid, never been arrested. I promise you: It was not deliberate. If anything, it was that army.”
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