WASHINGTON — The official WMATA Twitter account has been renamed following the death of Metro Mechanic Robert Cunningham who died while trying to stop a gunman at the Potomac Avenue station Wednesday.
On Thursday, WMATA updated its account name to "MetroStrong" and shared a photo of the official Metro sign with black bunting across.
Metropolitan Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Ashan Benedict said Cunningham was pronounced dead at the hospital. Two other victims were shot in the leg and hospitalized. Another person suffered a broken finger, according to Benedict.
The incident is believed to have started on a Metro bus, when a passenger, described as someone experiencing a mental crisis, allegedly began brandishing a gun at other passengers, following one off the bus and shooting him in the legs, before heading down into the Metro station.
Down in the station, the gunman began assaulting people he encountered, including dragging a man at a ticket machine toward the turnstile and shooting him in the legs. Then he pointed a gun at a woman on the platform, attempting to rob her. That's when Cunningham, a mechanic in Metro's power department, stepped in to help, but the gunman shot him in the back of the head.
"Metro employee Robert Cunningham will be remembered as a hero who lost his life while fighting to keep customers safe," Metro tweeted. "We are thankful for the outpouring of love and support we've received from our community.
Metro also shared a link to a GoFundMe set up for Cunningham's family. As of 9 p.m. that GoFundMe has raised more than $64,000.
The shooting happened at the Potomac Avenue Metro Station Wednesday morning.
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