A gunman opened fire in several locations in a string of random shootings Wednesday, killing a DC Metro subway employee and injuring three others.
The DC Metro worker was fatally shot after trying to intervene when the gunman got into a confrontation with a woman on the subway platform at the Potomac Avenue station, according to police.
"His heroism has to be recognized here today," Ashan Benedict, the executive assistant chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department, said at a press conference Wednesday morning.
Three people were shot, including one fatally, by a gunman in separate scenes near and inside the Potomac Avenue station in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 1, 2023.
WJLA
Police said they believe the shooter may have been trying to rob the young woman.
Benedict said a second employee was able to deescalate the situation and stop the string of attacks. He suffered minor injuries by shrapnel from the shooting of the other employee, police said.
The shootings began on a Metrobus, where the gunman allegedly shot someone in the leg. He then shot another person in the leg inside the nearby subway station. Both are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
"The fact that our citizens have to intervene with an armed gunman is disturbing to me," Benedict said.
Three people were shot, including one fatally, by a gunman in separate scenes near and inside the Potomac Avenue station in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 1, 2023.
WJLA
Officers found the suspect on the Potomac Avenue Metro Station train platform and took him into custody, but police do not yet know the motive for the attacks.
A weapon was recovered on the train tracks.
"We have a gun violence problem in America, and sometimes unfortunately that comes into Metro. But this is not a Metro-specific safety issue. It's an American gun violence issue. And I think that's becoming increasingly clear all over America day in and day out," said Randy Clarke, general manager and CEO for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
