12:46 PM

Metro Employee Killed While Trying To Stop Shooter At Potomac Avenue Metro Station

Héctor Alejandro Arzate, Jordan Pascale, Martin Austermuhle

A Metro employee was shot and killed and three others were left injured in a shooting on Wednesday morning at the Potomac Avenue Metro station in Southeast D.C. The alleged shooter, a male, is now in custody.

According to officials, the incident began when the individual displayed a gun while on a bus. He’s said to have exited the bus and followed a customer before shooting that person in the leg. The alleged shooter then entered the station and confronted a second customer who was trying to purchase a Metrocard before also shooting the person in the leg. The individual then moved to the station platform and confronted another woman, at which point witnesses report that a Metro employee tried to intervene and was shot.

“His heroism has to be recognized here today,” said MPD Executive Assistant Chief of Police Ashan M. Benedict. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family and the heroic actions he took took place here today.” ... Police say the motive of the shooter is unclear, but the shooter was “clearly agitated.”

Witnesses have reported that a second Metro employee subsequently intervened, which helped bystanders tackle the shooter to the ground and stop him. ... Benedict said he wished officers, who responded in minutes, could’ve been there sooner. “The fact that our citizens have to intervene with an armed gunman is disturbing to me,” he said.

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Law enforcement responded to the shooting at approximately 9:21 a.m. Meanwhile, Metro rail services have been suspended on the Orange, Blue, and Silver lines due to the ongoing investigation. The suspensions are affecting transit services between the Federal Center SW station and the Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road stations.

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TRANSPORTATION

Metro employee killed while trying to stop gunman shooting at commuters in D.C.

Two Metro transit employees tried to intervene, police said, and one was fatally shot. "His heroism has to be recognized today,” a police official said.

By Katie Mettler and Justin George
Updated February 1, 2023 at 1:21 p.m. EST | Published February 1, 2023 at 10:17 a.m. EST



Numbers mark shell casings after a shooting at the Potomac Avenue Metro station at 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue SE on Wednesday. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)

A Metro employee who tried to stop a gunman targeting commuters Wednesday morning was shot and killed on the platform of the Potomac Avenue Metro station in a shooting spree that also injured three others.

One person was taken into custody by D.C. police, authorities said at a news conference outside the station in Southeast Washington. Police said there were four victims, including the Metro worker who was fatally shot. Two others were conscious and breathing after being shot in the legs, police said, while another person suffered a hand injury.

Transit police and D.C. police responded at 9:21 a.m. and found what Executive Assistant Chief Ashan Benedict described as a “series of individual” shooting scenes that started on a Metrobus coming from Maryland and ended on the Metro platform. ... “It’s unclear what the motive for all of this is,” Benedict said.

Police said the gunman, who they did not name, shot at a Metrobus passenger and struck the person in the legs, then went into the train station, where he shot another commuter who was trying to buy a Metro fare card. The gunman, police said, then traveled down the escalator to the train platform, where he began to “engage” with a female commuter while he had a “gun brandished to his side.” ... Two Metro transit employees saw the altercation unfold. One tried to intervene, police said, and was fatally shot. ... “His heroism has to be recognized today,” Benedict said.

The second transit officer then tried to “engage” the shooter and “de-escalate” the situation, Benedict said, and no other shots were fired. The gunman entered a train car, then exited as bystanders tried to tackle him to the ground, Benedict said.

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By Katie Mettler
Katie Mettler is a reporter covering policing, courts and justice. Twitter https://twitter.com/kemettler

By Justin George
Justin George is a reporter covering national transit and Metro, the D.C.-area public transportation system, for The Washington Post. He previously covered criminal justice for the Marshall Project and the Baltimore Sun. Twitter https://twitter.com/justingeorge