Two off-duty federal law enforcement officials were able to subdue an armed man who was attacking someone Monday on a Metro train near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, officials say.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent and a Deputy U.S. Marshal worked together to subdue a man in an “altered mental state" on Monday night, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday.
The Border Patrol agent leaped into action when she saw two people clash on board a train traveling on the Yellow Line between the Braddock Road and airport Metro stations. The apparent victim of the conflict fled into the Metro car where the agent was sitting.
The Border Patrol agent helped barricade the emergency door to keep the man away. She saw then that he had a knife, officials said.
The agent announced to fellow passengers that she was an armed federal agent, and then an off-duty Deputy U.S. Marshal in the same train car said he also was a federal officer.
The two developed a plan. When the train stopped, the marshal would grab the man while the Border Patrol agent backed him up, her weapon drawn.
When the train stopped at the Braddock Road Metro station, the two federal officials ordered the man to get on the ground, and he complied.
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Both agents held the man on the Metro platform until Metro Transit Police arrived and took the man into custody.
No one was hurt, officials said.
The man, who officials did not identify, was charged with attempted malicious wounding and cocaine possession.
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mark A. Morgan praised the actions of the agents.
“It happens more often than you know that our Border Patrol agents -- and so many other law enforcers -- do the right thing even when they are off duty," he said in a statement. “I’m very proud of them for taking action and protecting others.”
The Border Patrol agent said, “I was just doing my job. I appreciate the kudos, but this is what we train for every day.”
