An innocent passenger was shot aboard a Metrobus in southeast D.C. after one man fired at another during a fight Friday afternoon -- and in the confusion, the two suspects almost got away by pretending they were also victims, police said.
A 92 bus was headed to 14th and U streets NW with a number of passengers on board, but in the 2400 block of Good Hope Road SE, two men got into an argument, which escalated into a physical fight, Metro Transit Police said.
One man fired a gun but missed, striking the female passenger in the knee. Police have identified the suspect as 23-year-old Wade Patterson (pictured) of northeast D.C.
The victim was taken to a hospital. She is expected to recover.
In the confusion, police initially thought two men with cuts and bruises were somehow injured in the melee. The men were taken for medical treatment along with the woman, but when Metro detectives reviewed security video, they say they identified the men as those involved in the fight.
Metro Spokesman Dan Stessel said there were five security cameras on the bus.
Patterson was arrested and is charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
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It's not clear what charges the other man is facing for the fight that led to the shooting.
Linda Wilson was one of the passengers on the bus at the time of the shooting.
"We were on the bus on our way down from the store," said Wilson. "And between this bus stop and a second bus stop, there was scuffling going on in the back of the bus. And all of a sudden, we heard a gunshot. So a commotion started going on, and everyone started running off, so when I got off, another scuffling went on in the front of the bus.... It was terrible."
Of the victim's wound, Wilson said, "Blood was just profusely coming out. She didn't know she was shot until she got off the bus."
Traffic in the area was affected.
