{"id":12734,"date":"2019-04-24T17:11:40","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T21:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/?p=12734"},"modified":"2019-04-24T18:53:41","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T22:53:41","slug":"man-who-hit-pedestrians-in-silicon-valley-has-mental-health-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/man-who-hit-pedestrians-in-silicon-valley-has-mental-health-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Man who hit pedestrians in Silicon Valley is Iraqi war veteran with PTSD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A man who injured eight people when he drove his car into pedestrians in the Silicon Valley in California is a veteran with a history of mental health problems, his family says. The FBI is investigating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah J. Peoples, 34, referenced Prophet Elijah and repeatedly shouted “thank you, Jesus,” after Tuesday night’s incident in Sunnyvale, a city near Maintain View and San Jose. He was charged on Wednesday with eight counts of attempted murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capt. Jim Choi, a spokesman for the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, said the suspect’s motive is unknown, but there is no indication of a link to terrorism. He said Peoples may have sped up prior to the collision and he expressed no remorse after he was taken into custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peoples previously served as an Army sharpshooter in Iraq and is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to his family. His brother told the San Francisco Chronicle that Peoples was in a mental hospital for about a year in 2015 and was taking medication to “keep his mood right.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Unless the car malfunctioned, he would not have done that. He\u2019s like the perfect, model citizen,” his mother, Leevell Peoples, told the Associated Press. “He\u2019s an Army vet, he’s a good kid, never been arrested. I promise you: It was not deliberate. If anything, it was that Army.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating the crash, which happened just after 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at a large intersection on El Camino Real. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Witnesses said the car plowed into people who were waiting on the sidewalk and there is no indication that the driver tried to stop. Eight people were injured, including 4 people who were taken to hospital with serious injuries. A 13-year-old girl remains in critical condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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