Ex-Army Ranger killed by police after wife found murdered

Wife’s body found after police kill estranged husband, a former Army Ranger

The Associated Press
By: Margaret Stafford and Heather Hollingsworth
August 14, 2019

In this photo provided by the Johnson County, Kansas Sheriff's Office, Charles Pearson is pictured in a booking photo dated Oct. 8, 2018. (Johnson County, Kansas Sheriff's Office via AP)

The body of 49-year-old Sylvia Ussery-Pearson was found Tuesday night in northwest Arkansas' Benton County, police said during a news conference in Overland Park, Kansas, where she was from. The discovery was made hours after 51-year-old Charles Pearson, a 21-year veteran Army Ranger who had completed two combat tours in Iraq, walked into a Country Inn and Suites and told the general manager that he killed his wife.

Pearson said he was armed and heading to the nearby Legends Outlet shopping district.

Police in Kansas City, Kansas, said that when law enforcement confronted Pearson at a nearby intersection, he fired several shots at officers, who returned fire and killed him.
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First female combat veteran running for President reporting for duty...in National Guard

Gabbard takes presidential campaign break for Army National Guard training

By: The Associated Press
  August 13, 2019

Gabbard is the first female combat veteran to run for U.S. president. She was elected to Congress in 2012.

HONOLULU — Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is taking two weeks off from her 2020 Democratic presidential campaign to participate in Army National Guard training.

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard speaks at the Presidential Gun Sense Forum, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

Gabbard announced the two-week break in a statement Monday. She will return to the campaign trail on Aug. 25.

Gabbard is a major in the Army National Guard who has served in the military for more than 16 years and deployed to Iraq in 2004 and Kuwait in 2008.
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OEF OIF veteran lost job as Police Officer because of PTSD Service Dog

Man claims he's being discriminated against because of PTSD and service dog

KMVT 11 News
By Garrett Hottle
Aug 09, 2019

Thompson said his PTSD is the reason he's not a police officer anymore. But that things have recently gotten better, thanks to the addition of his service dog, Ziva. Thompson said he could tell she would make a huge difference in his life, from one of the first times they met.

SHOSHONE, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) A military veteran and former police officer in the Magic Valley, believes he's experiencing discrimination in his search for employment because of his service dog.

Former police offer and veteran Michael Thompson explains how his service dog Ziva helps him cope with PTSD. Michael Thompson is a Shoshone resident who previously worked for the Bellevue and Shoshone police departments. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Military and saw combat during the invasion of Iraq.

"I did the initial invasion for Iraq," Thompson said. "We were the group that was embedded with special forces that jumped into north Iraq and worked our way south."

Thompson has lived in Buhl most of his life and his time in the military was a big change for him, especially going overseas.

"I went from small town kid to a gunner in a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), where we were actually fighting and taking over areas as we worked our way south," Michael said.
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Iraq veteran's daughter fighting for life after hit and run driver left her in road

Lillington family trying to bring home woman critically hurt in Colorado hit-and-run

WRAL
By Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter
August 1, 2019

LILLINGTON, N.C. — A Lillington native remains in a Colorado hospital three months after she was seriously injured in a hit-and-run in Denver.

Ashley Schachter, 22, was on her way to work at a local college on May 1 when she was hit. Witnesses told police that the driver stopped briefly and could be heard asking someone on the phone what to do before jumping back in her car and driving off.

"To know that she got out of her car saw what she did to my daughter and then left the scene of what she did, it just baffles me how someone could just do that," Brandy Schachter said Wednesday.

Ashley Schachter, a Harnett Central High School graduate who had moved to Denver only weeks earlier after spending several years doing community service work through AmeriCorps, suffered a traumatic brain injury along with fractures in her spine, hip, legs, left ankle and collarbone.

"I didn't recognize my daughter, and I basically hit the floor," Brandy Schachter said, recalling the first time she saw her in the hospital. "It was, I mean, all the trauma and the bruises, everything, it was just overwhelming that I didn't even recognize my own daughter."

Chad Schachter, a disabled Iraq War veteran, has stayed in Denver since the crash to be with his daughter and to try find clues to help with the investigation of the hit-and-run, which remains unsolved.

"I had no idea if she was going to be alive or not when I got here," he told NBC affiliate KUSA.
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Mom's grief after Iraq veteran son committed suicide

A soldier’s suicide and his mother’s grief are tragic part of nation’s larger mental health issues among veterans

SiLive
By Paul Liotta
July 29, 2019

“I wanna be the person I know I can be -- clean from drugs,” John wrote. “I want to get my life back in order ... I want my family to be proud of me again.”

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- John King served his country, but when he came home, his family says the system failed him like it has too many other veterans.

After just two years and four months in the Army, King returned home to Staten Island with severe physical and mental injuries. He spent years trying to get help, but on Oct. 7, 2017 he took his own life.

His death is part of an upward trend in suicide that many in America have been working to reverse.

“These guys are brothers,” John’s mom Sandra King said. “They went through something none of us will ever understand. They went -- they gave up their lives for us.”

The Oakwood resident signed up for the Army in 2007 at the age of 17, and quickly found himself in the middle of Iraq during that year’s troop surge. John was honorably discharged in 2009 following his injuries.

For the bulk of his time in the Army, John -- a member of Task Force 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry dubbed the “Black Lions” -- sat in a Humvee gunner seat driving along the Baghdad Airport Road designated “Route Irish.”

Spc. James “Boomer” Lamonde met John in Iraq during their service and developed a close friendship when they returned to Fort Riley. He remembers John like a little brother.

“He was young,” Lamonde said. “He was a baby. Still a goofy 18, 19-year-old kid that wasn’t broken yet fully. But John was a good dude. Anything you needed, if you needed him, he’d help you out.”

In 2008, John was separated from the rest of his company for four days facing enemy fire following orders that would allow the rest of his team to advance. According to the certificate of commendation awarded with his Army Achievement Medal, John’s actions allowed his company to safely move forward and set up position.
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Fort Carson 10th Special Forces Group Lost Hero

Decorated special forces soldier dies in combat in Afghanistan

NBC News
By Tim Stelloh
July 14, 2019

Sgt. Maj. James Sartor "was a beloved warrior who epitomized the quiet professional," a military official said.

A Special Forces company sergeant was killed during combat operations in Afghanistan, military officials said Sunday.

Sgt. Maj. James Sartor, 40, died Saturday in the country’s northern Faryab Province, U.S. Army Special Operations spokesman Lt. Col. Loren Bymer said in a statement.

Additional details about Sartor’s death were not immediately available.

Sartor, of Teague, Texas, was assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group in Fort Carson, Colorado, Bymer said. He deployed to Iraq as an infantryman in 2002 and later as a Green Beret. Sartor had served in Afghanistan twice — once in 2017 and again this year.

Sartor, who went by "Ryan," joined the Army in June, 2001, and was given more than 20 awards and decorations during his military career. He will posthumously receive a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, Bymer said.
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Motorcycle charity ride to help female veteran...by all female club!

Women's motorcycle club holding benefit run to help disabled veteran

NBC 26 News
By: Stacy Engebretson
Jul 03, 2019

The Sapphires not only help military veterans, they also support the Oshkosh Police Department's K-9 unit, Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services and people battling serious medical issues. Next year, they plan to team-up with the Oshkosh Fire Department as well.

NEENAH, Wis. — The rev of their engines. The breeze in their hair. The camaraderie. There's so much the Sapphires enjoy about their all-female motorcycle group, but number one Is riding for a reason.

"We're a strong sisterhood," said Leslie Schultz, one of 14 members of the Sapphires.

The Sapphires are Oshkosh's chapter of the nationwide motorcycle club the Chrome Angelz . It's a nonprofit organization with 176 chapters worldwide where women ride with a purpose.

"That's pretty much what gets us going is it's the people we support, our sisters and our actual brothers that are out there riding for the same cause," Schultz said.

They're supporting six causes this year including a benefit run for 37-year-old Tatiana Saunders of Neenah.

"I feel grateful," Saunders said. "And I keep wondering why me?"

Saunders served nearly five years in the U.S. Army. A year of that time, she was in a war zone in Iraq.
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MOH Former Staff Sgt.Bellavia entered Hall of Heroes

David Bellavia Hall of Heroes Ceremony

WBEN News
Connecting Vets
JUNE 26, 2019

The Pentagon (WBEN/Connecting Vets) - In a moving ceremony in the auditorium deep inside The Pentagon, David Bellavia took the stage following numerous dignitary remarks and spoke from his heart wearing the Medal of Honor he received Tuesday at The White House.

Former Staff Sgt.Bellavia, was inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon.

The Hall of Heroes is a dedicated space that opened in the Pentagon in 1968 to recognize every Medal of Honor recipient. The names of each of the roughly 3,600 recipients are listed there for recognition.

Bellavia's induction ceremony was led by Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist who described just how rare of a hero Bellavia truly is.

"We may use the term hero all the time. But there are in fact heroes among our heroes and they are very rare," Norquist said. "Since the Medal of Honor's creation in 1861, of the tens of millions who have served in the U.S. military, less than 3,600 medals have been awarded each after painstaking deliberation and consideration."

However, consistent with his efforts at Tuesday's Medal of Honor ceremony to ensure his unit receives as much recognition as he does, Bellavia requested that Norquist also recognize his unit during the Hall of Heroes induction.
v "David would also ask us to push the spotlight from himself back to his unit," Norquist said. "Let me highlight for the audience that the heroism displayed during the course of the Battle of Fallujah earned Task Force 2-2 the Presidential Unit Citation. David and his fellow soldiers here today come from a task force of heroes."

And when it was Bellavia's time to speak, he told the stories of the men in his squad — the men who comprise his memories and his understanding of the Iraq War.
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DA's office found police shooting of Iraq veteran in PTSD crisis "justified"

When exactly do we finally admit that all the awareness is useless and it is time to change what we are doing?

Madison County District Attorney’s Office finds fatal Huntsville police shooting was justified

WHNT 19 News
BY BRIAN LAWSON
JUNE 24, 2019

After her Army service in Iraq, Ragland spent time in a Kansas Army facility that helps wounded and ill soldiers transition to civilian life or continued Army service.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The Madison County District Attorney's Office agrees with a Huntsville shooting review board in finding that the use of deadly force during a police encounter with an Army veteran suffering from PTSD was justified.

On Friday, a police review board determined the officers involved in the shooting acted within department policy.

Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard told WHNT News 19 Monday that the evidence supports the board's finding.

"The investigator with the Huntsville Police Department met with us and laid out the case," Broussard said. "He showed us the evidence, including the body cams. It was clearly a justified shooting on the part of HPD. There will be no action on our part with respect to presentment to a grand jury, because it was clearly justified."

The fatal incident came after a call from the Stadium Apartments where Ragland lived. Police said they responded to a call of a woman waving a gun and making threats at Stadium Apartments. The woman, 32-year-old Crystal Ragland, served 17 months in the Iraq war and suffered from PTSD. That call proved to be a fatal and tragic collision.
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Veteran of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq running for President

Joe’s In: Former Congressman, 3-Star Admiral Sestak announces campaign for President.

JUNE 22, 2019

Thank you for taking the time to see why I am declaring my candidacy for President of the United States of America.

What Americans most want today is someone who is accountable to them, above self, above party, above any special interest … a President who has the depth of global experience to restore America’s leadership in the world to protect our American Dream at home … and one who is trusted to restructure policies where too many see only the growth of inequity not of the economy.

I want to be that President who serves the American people the way they deserve to be served.

And while my announcement may be later than others for the honor of seeking the Presidency, the decision to delay was so I would be there with Alex, our daughter, as the brain cancer she had courageously beaten at four years old returned this past year. But with her same team of medical heroes, she has again overcome the single digit odds.

I had worn the cloth of our nation for over 31 years in peace and war, but after Alex’s first high-grade brain tumor, I needed to answer to you, the American people, who provided the military healthcare coverage that saved our daughter’s life. I served our nation as a U.S. Congressman for two terms from a Republican District in order to work for all Americans to have the healthcare coverage we fortunately had had for Alex.

Now, the hour has become late to restore U.S. global leadership that convenes the world for two primary objectives that serve our collective well-being here at home: putting a brake on climate change and putting an end to an illiberal world order’s injustices, from China’s control of the 5G network to Russian interference in democratic elections.

However, we cannot meet the defining challenges of our time without a united America. This is our Hobson’s Choice: not just to win this Presidential election, but to heal our nation’s soul by regaining the trust of Americans – all Americans – by a President who the people know will remain accountable to them alone, no matter the cost to him.

I ask that you would take a moment and watch the video(s) below. The first is my announcement summarizing why our next President must have a unique understanding of all the elements of our nation’s power: our economy and diplomacy, our military – including its limitations – and the power of our ideals. The other videos describe the foreign and domestic challenges we face, and the policies I will pursue as President, particularly accountability to America.
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Florida veteran survived Iraq, Fort Hood massacre and attempted suicide by cop

A Suicide-by-Cop Attempt Prompts a Plan to Use Marijuana to Save Veterans

Miami New Times
CARLOS MILLER
JUNE 14, 2019

“Seeing that one of my own service members, a major that I’m supposed to look up to, couldn’t handle his own PTSD and decided to shoot up a soldier-reprocessing site made me feel absolutely terrible," Ortiz says. “I had survivor’s guilt, and I still have survivor’s guilt.”

Having failed at a previous suicide attempt, South Florida Army veteran J.C. Ortiz was determined to succeed the second time.

It was 2009 and he had just returned from his second tour of Iraq, where he had experienced a grueling 15 months of continual combat. Four years earlier, after another 18 months of war, he'd begun suffering from PTSD. He would become addicted to opioids.

Now the plan was to lock himself with bottles of rum and pills in the bathroom of his home on the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Through the door, he would tell his wife he was going to take his own life, knowing she would call military police.

Florida is home to 17 percent of the nation’s homeless, according to the U.S. Census. And the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates veterans make up 11 percent of the nation's homeless population. Ortiz says there are 3,500 homeless veterans in South Florida.
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Iraq veteran's Mom read son died in newspaper...Dad had to tell him bad news...reporting

Fake obituary stuns Chesterfield veteran and his family: ‘I woke up to the sound of my mom crying’

CBS 6 News
BY JON BURKETT AND MIKE BERGAZZI
JUNE 13, 2019

“We can confirm that a private citizen submitted this false information to the Times-Dispatch through our online obituary portal,” said Jason Dillon, vice president of advertising for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Justin Felger joined the United States Navy shortly after 9/11 but found his calling as an infantryman in the Virginia Army National Guard, which put him on the front lines in Iraq.

“I wanted to fight for the red, white, and blue,” Felger said. “Every time we went out there, it was every corner, every step we took you had to worry about losing your life.”

Staff Sgt. Felger survived two combat tours.

But last month he became a fallen soldier, or so it was written.

“Woke up to the sound of, well, my mom was crying,” Felger said. “My dad had to break the news to me.”

An obituary published in the May 9 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch claimed that the Chesterfield native had died unexpectedly at the age of 36.

Someone had also created a separate memorial website.

The minutes and hours that followed were chaotic.
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Iraq Veteran David Bellavia to receive Medal of Honor

update:Medal of Honor recipient calls military honor life-changing

Associated Press

June 11, 2019

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — Army Staff Sgt. David Bellavia won’t officially receive his Medal of Honor from President Donald Trump for another two weeks but already, he says, everything’s changed.

The radio talk show host and one-time Republican congressional candidate says his focus now isn't his own opinions but the fellow Iraq veterans he represents, as well as families of soldiers who've lost their lives.

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15 years after Fallujah, Bellavia destined for Medal of Honor and White House ceremony

Buffalo News
By Robert J. McCarthy
Published June 8, 2019

David Bellavia will travel from his Albion home to the White House sometime late this month, where President Trump is scheduled to drape around the Army veteran’s neck a gold medallion suspended by a blue ribbon — the Medal of Honor.

David Bellavia ran for Congress in 2012. (John Hickey/News file photo)

But his journey really began on Nov. 10, 2004, in the dusty streets of Fallujah, Iraq. That’s where the Army staff sergeant, on his 29th birthday, found himself in deadly hand-to-hand combat with some of the enemy’s toughest fighters.

In the end, five of them died. He prevailed.

Now a nation will say thank you.

Veterans’ advocate, author, former congressional candidate and current talk radio co-host, Bellavia will become the 3,469th American awarded the nation’s highest military decoration — and the first living recipient from the War in Iraq.
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Iraq Veteran David Bellavia Honors Vietnam Veterans

Veteran denied VA Mortgage because of job...in legal cannabis company

update A Revere veteran’s legal marijuana job cost him a VA loan. Now, Congress is stepping in

On Friday, it passed a measure banning the VA from considering veterans’ income from state-approved cannabis industries as a reason to deny them their benefit of a low-rate home loan guarantee with no money down.

VA denies Mass. veteran home loan over his legal marijuana job

Boston Globe
By Naomi Martin Globe Staff
June 3, 2019

Veterans who work in the marijuana industry face financial consequences. Retired Army Major Tye Reedy, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, lost his military pension for working as director of operations at Acreage Holdings, one of the nation’s largest cannabis companies, according to a Barron’s report.

Parade participants march through town during the annual Memorial Day Parade in Naugatuck, Conn., on May 27.(SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES)

The couple, crammed in a tiny Revere apartment with two kids and a third on the way, had spent months searching for a house they could afford.

It wasn’t easy in Massachusetts’ pricey market. But the man, a disabled Army veteran, had one advantage — a military benefit, a loan guarantee, that would provide a low-rate mortgage with no money down.

Finally, in November, they found a yellow split-level ranch in Dracut they loved — it had a giant living room, a two-car garage, and a nice yard for the kids. The veteran filed his Army paperwork.
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UK Iraq veteran crosses finish line with help from "brothers"

Emotional moment Hull's heroic wounded veteran walks across Hull 10k finish line

Hull Live
BySophie Kitching
2 JUN 2019

This is the joyous moment war veteran Chris Ashton, who lost the ability to walk after being hit by a grenade in Iraq, crossed the finishing line of the Hull 10k.

Mr Ashton, 35, had life-changing surgery after he was injured while serving in 2006. The incident has also affected his ability to talk.

Just as he did last year with the help of charity Hull 4 Heroes, Mr Ashton was pushed around the Hull 10k on Sunday morning, and managed to walk the final steps across the finishing line, cheered on by his supporters.

Mr Ashton was a radio operator with the Royal Logistics Corp and was attached to The Black Watch in Iraq in 2006 when a grenade hit his face at a speed of 1,500mph.

The grenade shattered his skull, and has left him blind in one eye.
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Seth Moulton trying to make a difference on PTSD...because he has it

Seth Moulton discloses PTSD, unveils military mental health proposal

POLITICO
By ALEX THOMPSON
05/28/2019

“Just because other presidents haven’t talked about this openly doesn’t mean that presidents haven’t dealt with these issues in the past,” Moulton said.

Democratic presidential candidate Seth Moulton said he hopes opening up about his experience with post-traumatic stress disorder would help ease the stigma that veterans and nonveterans feel when confronting mental illness. | Scott Eisen/Getty Images
The Democratic presidential candidate sought treatment after his combat deployments during the Iraq War.

Rep. Seth Moulton, a Marine veteran who is running for president, will introduce a plan Tuesday evening to expand military mental health services and will disclose that he sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder after his combat deployments during the Iraq War.

“I had some particular experiences or regrets from the war that I just thought about every day, and occasionally I’d have bad dreams or wake up in a cold sweat,” the Massachusetts Democrat told POLITICO in an interview ahead of a Tuesday night event in Massachusetts that will begin a Veterans Mental Health Tour in early-primary states. “But because these experiences weren’t debilitating — I didn’t feel suicidal or completely withdrawn, and I was doing fine in school — it took me a while to appreciate that I was dealing with post-traumatic stress and I was dealing with an experience that a lot of other veterans have.”

Moulton arrived home in 2008 and sought counseling in 2009, trying a few therapists before finding one he connected with and met with weekly.

“I got to the point where these experiences weren’t haunting me every day,” he said. “They’ll always be there and there will always be regrets that I have, but I got to a point where I could deal with them and manage them. It’s been a few years now since I’ve woken up in a cold sweat in bed from a bad dream or felt so withdrawn from my friends or whatever that I would just go home and go to bed because I miss being overseas with the Marines.”

Some politicians below the presidential level have been able to openly discuss mental health treatment and still win their elections. Former Gov. Mark Dayton of Minnesota told voters before winning his first term in 2010 that he had been taking antidepressants. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said he had PTSD after serving in Iraq.
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Michael and Tanya Trotter...sing of healing and hope

The War and Treaty: Songs of healing

CBS News
May 26, 2019

May 30, 2004, Captain Sheetz was killed by an IED...Trotter wrote a song for Scheetz's memorial service. When his commanding officers saw how his performance inspired others, they saw an opportunity: "The powers-that-be decided that that is what I would do; I would literally write songs about the fallen for memorials."

On stage, Army veteran Michael Trotter Jr. is fearless. Together, he and his wife Tanya perform as the duo The War and Treaty. But 15 years ago, when Trotter deployed to the war in Iraq, he was understandably terrified.

"I was afraid, I wanted everybody to know I was afraid," he said. "Because I hoped that that fear would say, 'All right, let's send him back home,'" he laughed. "The Army's like, 'You signed up, you're here. Let's fight.'"

Trotter dropped out of high school at 16. At 19, he became a father. He enlisted in the Army as a way to support his baby daughter. "I thought, like, wow, I have really made the mother of all mistakes. But then you meet the boys and the gals, and if you're lucky you meet your missing family members. And you connect."

One of Trotter's commanding officers, Captain Robert Sheetz Jr., could tell that he was struggling. He'd heard Trotter liked music, so he suggested he learn to play a piano that had been discovered in the palace where their unit was based.

(Tanya Blount in Sister Act)

Tanya insisted that Michael go to a veterans hospital. "They told him that he had PTSD," Tanya said. "And we went home and I said, 'You are a wounded warrior.' He was like, 'Well, I'm not wounded. I'm not shot up, I didn't lose a limb.' And I said, 'But that doesn't mean you're not psychologically wounded.'"
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Widow sues British Army after husband lost battle to PTSD

Widow of war veteran who killed himself to sue British Army over his death

Birmingham Live
Sean Rayment and James Roger
May 5, 2019

“The Government, the NHS and the Ministry of Defence need to wake up to their responsibilities. These agencies can’t carry on as if veterans’ lives don’t matter." Jo Jukes

Jo with her late husband David in 2015

A war veteran's heartbroken widow is to sue the NHS, Ministry of Defence and police in a landmark case.

Jo Jukes is grieving her husband David's tragic death.

The 47-year-old says it could have been ­prevented.

David, a Staffordshire Regiment war veteran, killed himself.

The 49-year-old was a lance corporal in the Staffordshire Regiment, and served in nearly every major British deployment in the last 25 years.

These included Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia.

Since his death, a further 60 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are believed to have killed themselves.

Jo wants better communication between the agencies responsible for his mental health.

The mum-of-two is believed to be the first widow to plan legal action following the suicide of a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder.
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#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

Driver who plowed into strangers had history of mental illness

Suspect in Sunnyvale ramming of crowd moaned, ‘Thank you, Jesus,’ over and over

San Francisco Chronicle
Evan Sernoffsky , Matthias Gafni , Gwendolyn Wu and Lauren Hernández
April 24, 2019

Joshua Peoples, 38, said his brother served in the military overseas. The U.S. Army Reserve confirmed he served as a civil affairs specialist “from March 2004 to July 2009, attaining the rank of Sergeant. He deployed to Iraq from June 2005 to May 2006.”

Moments after Army veteran Isaiah Joel Peoples careened his car through a crowded Sunnyvale intersection, sending bodies flying through the air, the 34-year-old Sunnyvale resident with a history of mental illness praised Jesus, according to investigators and a witness.

“Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus,” a witness said Peoples moaned after emerging from his wrecked car Tuesday night, just feet from a crooked line of crumpled bicycles and mangled, bloody bodies.

Peoples was arrested at the scene, and police, who said they believe his actions were intentional but not connected to any terrorist group, booked him on suspicion of eight counts of attempted murder. They said he did not express remorse.
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Veteran thanks officer for saving his life during crisis

Military veteran living with PTSD recalls night APD officer helped save his life

KOAT 7 News
Shellya Leggett 
April 19, 2019

"When it was going on, that was like, that was really intense and scary for me. So, it was just like, in hindsight thinking about it, you know, that guy was really, really patient and really cool with me." J Freeman

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
Albuquerque police and other agencies across New Mexico are requiring officers to get training from psychologists on how to deal with people with mental illnesses.

A man who said that training helped save his life spoke to KOAT. J Freeman is a six-year Army and Air Force veteran who lives with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said without the help of Albuquerque Police Department officer Phillip Meier, he might not be here to tell his story.

Freeman said he spent some time overseas in Kuwait and Iraq but has been home since 2003 and lives every day with PTSD.

"It's not always easy to have a conversation with someone, and when it's a police officer or anyone, especially when they have weapons on them, it just makes you all the more defensive and agitated," Freeman said.

About a week ago, he had a PTSD crisis.

"If I was agitated, if this were two years ago, this would have been a completely different ending," Freeman said.

He needed help, and two-year APD officer and five-year Navy veteran Phillip Meier was there.
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