WASHINGTON — Metro's board called a closed door emergency meeting Thursday morning on safety and security after Wednesday's shooting at Potomac Avenue Station on Capitol Hill.
People had been leaving cards and flowers at the station for Robert Cunningham, the 64-year-old Metro mechanic killed trying to thwart a shooter.
Metro Transit Police were stationed outside Cunningham's Silver Spring home Thursday morning, trying to shield his widow and four children. Neighbors say they're not surprised he stepped in when the rampaging gunman attacked a woman passenger. They say that's the kind of guy he was.
"I feel bad for my neighbor and his family," said Avis Gnalega. "I hope that we can come together and help them as much as we can."
Metro has set up a GoFundMe, which in just hours, has received tens of thousands of dollars to help pay for the family's daily lives and the children's college educations.
At Metro Headquarters, union president Raymond Jackson arrived for an emergency meeting on safety and security.
"Robert Cunningham is a hero. And Robert Cunningham is no different from any other member who is out here serving the public every day."
Police say Isaiah Trotman, 31, of Southeast, D.C. first shot someone he'd chased off a bus, then two more people inside the Metro station, before shooting Cunningham in the back of the head. Why is still a mystery.
"I thought he was going to shoot me," said rider Timour Skrynnikov. "He was looking at me at one point with a gun."
Skrynnikov and another passenger tackled and disarmed the alleged shooter, holding him until police got there.
"I saw his back and something made me jump at him," Skrynnikov said. "It was like a survival instinct."
There was no answer at Trotman's home in Southeast Thursday afternoon, and police say he's still in the hospital for evaluation. He's being held on murder, kidnapping and assault charges. Court records show he has a long history of drug and alcohol arrests.
An online database shows Trotman was once a student at Auburn University and worked there in media and digital resources.