WASHINGTON — WMATA says it is doing everything it can to keep its passengers safe after a shooting claimed the life of a Metro employee Wednesday afternoon.
Shortly before 10 a.m., someone opened fire on 64-year-old Metro employee Robert Cunningham at the Potomac Avenue metro station, according to the Metropolitan Police Department and the Metro Transit Police Department [MTPD].
Officials soon announced that Cunningham had succumbed to his injuries.
Shortly after that incident, local residents flooded social media with posts about the incident. Some of those posts, by riders, claimed they felt unsafe on Metro buses and trains.
In the last two months, several violent crimes have taken place on Metro properties. Someone injured two children getting off a bus, three weeks ago, in DC’s Brightwood neighborhood.
The month before that, WUSA9 covered four people who had been shot, in separate incidents at Metro stations, in a 24-hour span.
However, General Manager Randy Clarke said the issues experienced by Metro recently are not unique to the agency.
“This is not a Metro-specific safety issue,” he said. “This is an America gun violence issue.”
Either way, MTPD data shows crime increased on Metro trains and buses in 2022, compared to the year before, by 19 percent. The agency experienced increases in larcenies, robberies, simple assaults, and vandalism.
Still, Clarke said WMATA is working to address the issue.
“We are working very hard,” he said. “We’ve increased police patrols, 25 to 30 percent, the last six months.”
At last week’s WMATA board meeting, officials noted Metro has more than 8,000 cameras in its facilities.
In the past, police in WMATA’s command center were the sole operators who determined where cameras were pointed. However, now, Metro says it’s working to train other on-site station staff to repoint cameras wherever they see suspicious behavior too.
WMATA said it also hired four crisis intervention specialists to assist in mental health situations in December.
“I would say we have all expected that number will grow,” said Brian Dwyer, WMATA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Still, the union that represented Cunningham before his death says more must be done to keep WMATA employees safe.
“The scourge of violence on the DC Metro has gotten out of control and must be stopped. We hold the authority directly responsible for failing to protect our members and riders,” said the Amalgamated Transit Union’s International President John Costa.
ATU Local 689 also made a statement concerning the safety of its workers on Metro premises.
“The recent rise of attacks on riders and workers alike is deeply disturbing and must be stopped,” the statement reads. “As such, Local 689 calls on public officials at Metro and throughout the region to immediately review safety protocol and procedures to ensure that public transit is safe for all.”
WUSA9 reached out to WMATA for comment in response to ATU’s statements. The agency referred back to the statements made by Clarke at a morning press conference.