Before patrons disarm him a gunman kills one person and injures two others in a US metro attack

WASHINGTON: A rampage broke out in the nation's capital Wednesday morning that began on a city bus and ended in a subway tunnel after commuters attacked and disarmed him, after a man "randomly" brandished a firearm. Waving shot three people, one of whom died.

Authorities were still trying to piece together the chaotic sequence of events that left subway employee Robert Cunningham shot dead and two people wounded in the leg with gunshot wounds. The shooter has not been publicly identified and is currently in police custody.

Executive Assistant Chief Ashan Benedict of the Metropolitan Police Department "lauded the heroic actions of our citizens, our community, to disarm this shooter." But he continued, "I find it disturbing that our citizens had to intervene with armed gunmen."

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The man began waving a weapon and fighting with people on a city bus in the southeast part of the city just after 9 a.m. This is where the violence started. According to Benedict, the man followed one of the passengers off the bus and shot him in the leg.

The shooter confronted someone buying a subway pass and shot the person in the leg at the nearby Potomac Avenue subway stop. Both the victims were undergoing treatment at nearby hospitals.

The armed man then landed on the platform of the train and started arguing with a female passenger there. Benedict described his actions as extremely erratic, saying, "He's walking around with a gun and just randomly fighting with people. He's upset about something."

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At that point, Cunningham, a 64-year-old mechanic with Metro's power division, attempted to step in and was shot and killed. According to a statement from Metro Board President Paul Smedberg, Cunningham "acted with extreme bravery to assist a customer who was being threatened by the shooter."

After attempting to enter a subway train while armed, the man was apparently confronted and disarmed by riders. According to Benedict, police took him into custody after he exited the train car and found his weapon on the tracks.

According to Mayor Muriel Bowser, the shootings demonstrate the urgent need for gun control. After a 13-year-old boy, who was participating in a group of youths breaking into cars parked on his block, was shot and killed by a city activist, Bowser and the police department have recently come under intense public pressure. went. This week, the resident was charged with second-degree murder.

According to Bowser, we are focused on removing firearms from our city. "We know we have guns that are causing tragedies in our city and our country, whether it's a subway, a street, or an individual home."

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Metro general manager Randy Clark said security measures had recently been strengthened by his administration, including more police patrols and video surveillance.

However, he claimed that the morning's incident was indicative of a bigger problem that went beyond metro security. According to Clark, this is an issue of American gun violence, not metro-specific safety.

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