The man accused of shooting and killing a Metro employee and injuring three others during a rampage at the Potomac Avenue Metro station on Wednesday has a criminal history and suffers from mental illness, according to police records and his lawyer on a separate case.
D.C. police records show officers responded to Isaiah Trotman's home in Southeast two weeks before the deadly shooting to check on his welfare, but were unable to find him.
According to the police report, Trotman was enrolled in a behavioral program but had not shown up for more than a week.
In Pennsylvania, Trotman was charged with several drug-related crimes in April 2022, court documents state.
Trotman was awaiting sentencing on those charges after a plea deal, his Pennsylvania attorney said.
"The Isaiah Trotman that I know is kind and reasonable but, as we have noted throughout this case in Pennsylvania, he is also troubled with devastating mental health issues that have affected his behavior in ways he cannot control.
This situation is beyond tragic for all involved. Our sympathies go out to the many people who are undoubtedly impacted by this," his attorney David Erhard said in a statement to News4.
In D.C., Trotman's criminal history goes back at least two years.
One police report shows Trotman was arrested in 2020 for simple assault in Adams Morgan.
On Wednesday, police said Trotman fatally shot 64-year-old Robert Cunningham, a longtime mechanic for Metro.
Greg Bowen Jr. was friends with Cunningham for 17 years and said he was scheduled to work with him on Wednesday.
"We lost a hero. We lost a shining star of somebody who cared, someone who was dedicated to making sure that the system ran great not just for, you know, himself or for a job, but for everybody else around … for his coworkers to be safe, for the public to get back and forth. He genuinely cared," Bowen said.
Three other people were injured after the attack that began with a confrontation on a Metrobus.
Trotman has not yet appeared in court for the charges he faces because he remains hospitalized. Police sources close to the investigation said Trotman was hospitalized for mental health reasons.
