Trotman allegedly shot and killed 64-year-old transit employee Robert Cunningham – who was attempting to intervene when Trotman threatened a woman on the platform. Cunningham died at the scene.
A GoFundMe campaign was launched to financially help Cunningham’s wife and four children.
After the alleged shooting, Trotman entered a train car at the platform. Shante Trumpet was on the train car when Trotman boarded, and she could see a man’s body lying on the platform.
Trumpet told Fox 5 DC, “He walked into our car, he’s like, ‘I’m not going to hurt anybody, I’m not going to hurt anybody.’ He started walking up and down the aisles, he started yelling. He started saying he was a vet. He was just, it looked like he was manic. He was getting in people’s faces, one man was trying to leave. He said you’re not going anywhere.”
Tyrell Knight was one of the passengers who was purportedly threatened by Trotman.
Trumpet said all she could think of as the gunman entered the train, “I have to get this gun off this train.”
Trotman reportedly sat next to Trumpet and loosened his grip on the gun.
“I wasn’t listening to anything he was saying,” she said. “I was just looking at the gun, and I was looking at the door. And I was looking that he wasn’t gripping the gun. I was thinking I could grab it enough and get it out of here and get it away from him.”
“I’m comfortable enough with guns. I grabbed the gun, and I just tried to get out of there with the gun, but he grabbed me before I could get completely out of there,” Trumpet explained.
Both Trumpet and the suspect were tackled to the ground by others on the train. Timour Skrynnikov – one of the passengers who tackled Trotman – said he reacted to the situation by “instinct.”
The gun slid to the floor. She was able to escape the pile of people and snatch the gun. Trumpet ran off the train and threw the firearm onto the tracks.
Police arrived at the crime scene and arrested Trotman. The 31-year-old was charged with murder.
Trumpet is being heralded as a hero.
“I did not imagine that the woman who I got on the train with … would be the one to save my life and many others who were on the train,” Tyrell Knight told Fox 5 DC.
“I never was one to take life for granted, you know, but after that happened, I will not take life for granted ever again. I thank God every day,” Knight said. “I owe her my life, honestly.”
Trumpet said of her life-saving heroics, “It’s honestly surreal. I feel like I’m telling somebody else’s story, honestly.”
“I feel surrounded by love and prayers and everything,” she said. “It’s giving me strength, honestly. God was with me the other day. And I’m a true believer of that.”
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EXCLUSIVE: Woman who helped stop Potomac Avenue Metro Station gunman speaks | FOX 5 DCwww.youtube.com