As reported by the Washington Post, 35-year-old Robert Gross, resident of Virginia and the District, was shot to death by a Metro Transit Police officer during the evening of March 12, 2015. The incident took place in the tunnel near the Potomac Avenue metro station. A Blue Line train operator heading toward Virginia spotted Robert Gross in the tunnel and called Transit Police. Three officers went into the tunnel to investigate but Gross was confronted by only one officer who shot him multiple times.
The officer in question, described only as a woman with at least ten years experience on the Metro Transit Police Force, has been put on paid administrative leave. Robert Gross is described as troubled. At the time of the shooting he was barefoot, wearing no pants and carrying a tree branch. While three paragraphs were used in the Washington Post article to describes Gross’ criminal history using records from 2008, only one paragraph was used to describe his family life.
The following night, Friday, March 13, DC Ferguson met at Chinatown, got on the Metro, then got off at U st to block the intersection of 14th and U streets. The following video was provided by Luke reporting for the DC Independent Media Center.
[…] March 12 Bobby Gross, 35, Washington, DC (Mentally ill, naked, wielding tree branch, was on DC Metro tracks when shot) […]