The DC Metro worker killed trying to protect a woman during a shooting earlier this month was laid to rest Tuesday.
Robert Cunningham, 64, intervened on behalf of a customer at the Potomac Avenue station on February 1 while trying to detain a gunman.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke spoke at the funeral mass held at St. Camillus Catholic Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, reports FOX 5 DC.
“Your husband, your father, your colleague, your friend is a hero, and we will always remember Robert as such,” Clarke said.
DC METRO EMPLOYEE KILLED TRYING TO STOP ‘HEROIC’ SHOOTER, SUSPECT IDENTIFIED
The man hailed a hero for stepping in to save a DC Metro customer during a shooting earlier this month and was buried on Valentine’s Day. (FOX 5 CC)
Elisa Cunningham, Robert’s wife, was heard from for the first time since the shooting at the toilet. She read a letter that she wrote to her husband in Spanish. Her brother read an English translation afterwards.
“Goodbye to the love of my life, the exemplary father of my children, the great hero of the community,” part of the letter said. “Robert, my love, you gave me two beautiful children, (Anthony and Kelly) and you adopted mine, (Daniel and Sofia). You made us a complete and beautiful family. You taught me what love is, and I thank you for 15 years of happiness…”
Cunningham was remembered during Mass as someone who never went to bed upset. Even if he and his wife argued, the priest said that Robert would kiss him goodnight.
SUSPECT IN CUSTODY AFTER DC METRO TRANSIT EMPLOYEE SHOT AND KILLED; ANOTHER 3 INJURED
Photo by Robert Cunningham, provided by WMATA. (Metro Home Google Translate iconSelect language▼ Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority)
The funeral procession led by a DC police motorcade passed the Potomac Avenue subway station, where Cunningham died defending a Metro passenger.
The incident involving Cunningham’s death began as a altercation aboard a Metrobus near 14th Street and Potomac.
A person with a gun, later identified as Isaiah Trotman, 31, of southeast DC, was attacking passengers on the bus and followed one of them before shooting him in the leg.
Police say the gunman then walked down the Potomac Avenue subway station escalator onto the station platform and approached someone who was trying to purchase a Metro card. Benedict said the gunman shot that person and attempted to lead them over the front door turnstile, but the victim was able to free herself.
Flowers at the Potomac Avenue subway station in Washington, DC, after 64-year-old Robert Cunningham was killed trying to stop an active shooter. (FOX 5 CC)
Trotman then allegedly went further down the escalator, where he was confronted by a woman. That’s where Metro employee Cunningham tried to intervene.
“Court documents released last week revealed that Cunningham grabbed the suspect from behind in an apparent chokehold when the suspect pointed a gun at the woman on the platform. Police say the suspect then moved his hand holding the gun toward Cunningham’s head and fired,” FOX 5 DC states.
Washington Metropolitan Police officers investigate a shooting at the Potomac Avenue subway station in Washington, DC on February 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Cenata)
Trotman then attempted to board a Metro train and was apparently confronted by passengers and disarmed. He got out of the train car and was detained by police officers, who also recovered his gun on the train tracks, Benedict said.
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Trotman was last reported in custody, charged with first-degree murder while armed, kidnapping while armed, and assault with a dangerous weapon.
Countless memories and photos of Cunningham have been shared in his online obituary.
