WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Through victim and witness accounts, and through details of security camera footage, a court document gives a fuller picture of events related to the deadly shooting that took place at the Potomac Avenue Metro Station on Feb. 1.

Those events included the attempt that a Metro employee made to stop the accused shooter, Isaiah Trotman, 31. The employee, Robert Cunningham, 64, was killed as he tried to save others.
The court document says a train passenger took the gun away from Trotman and tossed it out of the train to keep it from him.

It also includes information that at least one person was concerned about Trotman’s mental health and well-being prior to the shooting.

On a Metrobus

The paperwork, filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, said that Trotman confronted a Metrobus passenger prior to the bus’ arrival at the station, saying “something to the effect of, ‘Look me in the face, I’m a prophet, you going to die with me today. The last dude I shot earlier this morning was sitting in the same seat you was in.'” The officer who filed the affidavit stated that detectives determined that there had been no other shooting on a Metrobus before the interaction between Trotman and the passenger. The bus pulled into the Potomac Avenue Metro Station. and the passenger ran off the bus. That’s when Trotman is supposed to have shot him.

On the Metro Station’s Mezzanine Level

Police said Trotman took the escalator down to the mezzanine level of the station where he pointed a gun at someone, then grabbed the person by the neck and dragged the person towards the turnstiles, shooting the person. Security footage shows them eventually ending up on the platform level.

On the Metro Station’s Platform

Once Trotman reached the platform, the affidavit says he pointed a gun at somebody else, telling that third person, in part, “Don’t f**king bat your pretty eyelashes at me.”

It was on the platform level that Cunningham intervened, coming up on Trotman from behind, trying to put him in a chokehold. A witness told police Cunningham tried to wrestle the gun away from Trotman when Trotman shot him. The witness said Trotman stated, “I’m a killer, and this is what I do,” then stomped on Cunningham’s chest.

Video showed a brief interaction between Trotman and the witness before Trotman entered a Silver Line train at the station.

On a Silver Line Train

A person who was on the Silver Line train which Trotman boarded told police as the train was pulling into the station, Trotman could be seen kicking Cunningham on the platform. The person said when Trotman boarded the train, he said a number of times: “don’t leave, don’t run.”

Someone who appeared to be trying to deescalate the situation followed Trotman onto the train. Police believe that was the person whom Trotman is accused of shooting as he dragged the person through the turnstiles on the mezzanine level of the station.

The train passenger said Trotman was pacing on the train, “ranting,” saying things along the lines of “Harriet Tubman was in the CIA” and “I am a veteran.” Trotman said he wasn’t going to hurt anybody. The affidavit states that he got up in the face of the train passenger and asked the passenger if the passenger knew who he was.

The passenger told police Trotman sat down and put the gun on the seat with his hand on it. The passenger grabbed the gun and tried to get off the train when Trotman tackled the passenger. The passenger dropped the gun and slid it away from Trotman. Video shows people helping to get Trotman off of the passenger. The passenger was able to get free, got up, took the gun, and ran off the train. The passenger threw it across the platform and over a Metro train that was on the opposite tracks. It ended up on the opposite track bed which is where police found it.

Concern About Trotman’s Welfare and Mental Health

The officer who filed the affidavit wrote that police checked on the welfare of Trotman at his home less than two weeks before the shooting. Officers received a request to do so on Jan. 19. Police did not find him there.

The person who requested the check told police that Trotman has a behavioral health disorder and was a patient in a program that he attended three times a week. The person said that Trotman had not been to the program since Jan. 10, when he showed up an hour late for his appointment. The person described Trotman’s appearance that day as strange. The person didn’t think Trotman had been taking his medication. A mental health professional expressed concern about Trotman’s behavior.

The person who requested the welfare check said Trotman had a psychotic break previously and that during the break he was found wandering in the woods. That person was concerned that Trotman could have experienced another psychotic break because he had not been responding to calls or messages.

A judge ordered Trotman, who appeared in court Tuesday, held without bond. Trotman’s preliminary hearing was set for Feb. 16.