Citizens on the Washington, D.C. Metro have disarmed an assailant who shot three people, killing one who tried to help another victim.
Isaiah Trotman, 31, of Southeast, engaged in an altercation with another rider on a Metrobus near the Potomac Avenue Metro Station. He pulled out a handgun, chased the rider off the bus, and shot him. The rider got away and called the police before EMS transported him to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Trotman entered the station where he shot someone else who was trying to buy a Metro card. He then tried to drag the victim over a turnstile but the victim managed to escape.
Trotman then went down the escalator to the platform where he confronted a woman. At this point, Robert Cunningham, 64, a mechanic with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) intervened. Trotman shot Cunningham, killing him, before boarding a Metro train.
‘Extreme Bravery’: Hero Train Mechanic Dies Protecting Woman from DC Metro Mass Shooter As Passengers Disarm Gunman
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Metro rider Timour Skerynnikov told ABC affiliate WJLA that Trotman told the riders he had already shot two people and vowed to shoot more.
“He wasn’t there to negotiate,” Skerynnikov added. “Mr. Cunningham was right in front of me, 15 feet away.”
Fearing for his life, Skerynnikov said his survival instincts kicked in. He and other riders tackled Trotman, disarming him.
Trotman fled the train and was apprehended by police. He was subsequently charged with First Degree Murder while Armed, Kidnapping while Armed, and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon.
WMATA Board Chair Paul Smedberg released the following
“I wasn’t surprised at all he would do that,” Mary Whalen, a neighbor of Cunningham’s who said she’s known him for over 30 years, told WJLA. “He was doing his job, which was to tell that gentleman, ‘You cannot harass this lady. You can’t pull guns out. We don’t do this.’ I don’t think he gave it one second of thought that it could mean his life.”
Overall crime in the nation’s capital is up 18 percent this year. The homicide rate in DC spiked in 2020 in the wake of nationwide anti-police protests, reaching an 18-year high in 2021.
The growing crime rates in Joe Biden’s America caused even former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki to warn Democrats last year against making the 2022 midterms a referendum on the president.
