LOCAL CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

Metro mechanic had gunman in chokehold to protect a commuter, documents say

The new documents offered chilling new details of the rampage last week at the Potomac Avenue Metro station. The mechanic was ultimately shot and killed.

By Keith L. Alexander and Peter Hermann
Updated February 8, 2023 at 11:35 a.m. EST | Published February 7, 2023 at 6:18 p.m. EST

As Isaiah Trotman trained his gun on a woman in the Potomac Avenue Metro station last week, a 64-year-old Metro mechanic sneaked up behind him and put him in a chokehold, according to a newly released account filed in court on Tuesday. ... But police said in the affidavit that the 31-year-old Trotman — who had just claimed he was God as he shot and menaced commuters in Southeast Washington — managed to swing his right arm around and shoot Robert Cunningham once in the head. ... The mechanic, who was wearing his safety vest, crumpled to the ground on the Silver Line platform. Trotman then stomped three times on Cunningham’s chest, yelling, “I’m a killer, and this is what I do,” as a train pulled into the station, police said in the account.

The chilling details of Cunningham’s final moments trying to prevent a rampage on Feb. 1 came as Trotman appeared in court for the first time, and D.C. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Lloyd Nolan ordered him detained. The judge said at a hearing Tuesday that Trotman posed a danger to the community and noted that “there is no telling how many people that day were terrorized.” ... In all, police said, three people were shot, including Cunningham, during a horror-filled morning in which a witness described the gunman saying, “I’m the killmonger,” as he entered the station not far from Capitol Hill. The two others shot were wounded but expected to survive.

Police arrested Trotman, an Auburn University graduate who worked in information technology, after he boarded a train and a female passenger managed to toss away his loaded firearm. Police said Trotman’s initial hearing was delayed for nearly a week so he could receive mental health evaluation at a hospital. He is charged with first-degree murder while armed.

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Trotman’s mother told The Washington Post last week that she became worried about her son in recent weeks and that she “saw a depression” in his changed demeanor. His ex-girlfriend said he had been despondent over their breakup some years ago. ... Trotman was facing prison time in Pennsylvania after pleading guilty last month to a methamphetamine charge, according to a local prosecutor. That prosecutor said the charge stemmed from an arrest months earlier in a motel lobby, where Trotman was seen acting erratically and vandalizing plants.

By Keith L. Alexander
Keith L. Alexander covers crime and courts, specifically D.C. Superior Court cases, for The Washington Post. Alexander was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team that investigated fatal police shootings across the nation in 2015. He joined The Post in 2001. He previously worked as a reporter for USA Today, BusinessWeek and The Dayton Daily News. Twitter https://twitter.com/keithlalexander

By Peter Hermann
Peter Hermann covers crime for The Washington Post. He previously worked for the Baltimore Sun for 22 years, covering a Baltimore suburb and then the Baltimore Police Department. Twitter https://twitter.com/phscoop