ROCKVILLE, Md. — A newly released video of violence on a Red Line Metro train two years ago shows additional details of a shooting by an FBI agent near Medical Center station in Bethesda.
Montgomery County prosecutors charged Agent Eduardo Valdivia, 37, in the December 2020 shooting on the train, which wounded a man who has been previously described by officials as a homeless panhandler.
The man was rushed to Suburban Hospital and survived.
State's Attorney John McCarthy charged Valdivia with attempted murder, first-degree assault, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and reckless endangerment. His trial began Tuesday and is ongoing as jurors continue to hear evidence presented.
Prosecutors said there were other passengers in the southbound Red Line car who were endangered when Valdivia allegedly fired three shots in the incident on Dec. 15, 2020.The agent has repeatedly claimed he acted in self defense.
WUSA9 obtained the video of the shooting from the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office Thursday, which was captured on surveillance video in the Metro car and shown in court. The video does not have any audio, so the following account is what can be seen only by watching the video.
WARNING: The video below has graphic content, depicting a shooting on a Metro train.
The video shows two men entering the train car. A man in a suit, identified as Valdivia, is already sitting down in an aisle seat, and a new man to the car, who is shown wearing a purple shirt, takes a seat in the row across from the FBI agent.
The two appear to talk, and the man in a purple shirt gets up and walks away from Valdivia. The agent then stands, and the two appear to talk again as the man in the purple shirt walks back toward him.
Valdivia reaches toward his holster, where he's carrying a loaded gun. The two exchange more words, then The agent then takes out a gun and shoots the man, and continues pointing his gun at him as he speaks. The man hunches over, stumbles and takes a seat.
Valdivia continues talking and gesturing at the man and another passenger, the third man -- previously uninvolved -- stands up and seems to make a phone call.
The agent then appears to address the third man, making a hand signal for a phone as he talks to him.
The agent keeps a hand on the gun while he appears to continue to address the two men. Ultimately, the train comes to a stop and Valdivia grabs his coat and bag to exit the train, motioning for the man he shot to follow. The man shot does eventually follow Valdivia off the train, walking slowly and hunched over.
In a 911 call released after a Freedom of Information Act request by the Washington Post in 2021, another passenger told the operator that the man in the purple shirt had approached the agent and the agent warned him to back off.
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Instead, the man, according to the caller, got ready to fight the agent. The caller said the agent told him, "Move away, I'm an FBI agent. Back away," and the agent fired "two or three rounds."
Sources called the shooting an overreaction to a homeless man with a history of aggressive panhandling.