Shante Trumpet, the woman who courageously took the gun from the accused shooter during February 1st morning’s deadly rampage at the Potomac Avenue Metro station is one of the team winners of the 2017 Cafritz Award.The award program is managed by the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership (GW CEPL), part of the GW College of Professional Studies, in partnership with the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, and recognizes extraordinary D.C. Government Employees and teams who go above and beyond to serve their community and the City.
Trumpet does not consider herself a hero, reserving that title for Metro mechanic Robert Cunningham, 64, who was fatally shot intervening as the gunman harassed someone on the platform. The gunman had already shot Cunningham, wounding several others, when Shante Trumpet grabbed the gun.
She is grateful to have been able to go home to her family and friends, who lovingly told her, “Don’t ever do that again.”
Incidentally, one of Trumpet’s fellow passengers, Timour Skrynnikov, who, with the help of another passenger, tackled the accused metro gunman to the ground in the ensuing scuffle, also happens to be an alum of one of GW CEPL’s programs. Skrynnikov recently graduated from the Program for Excellence in Municipal Management Cohort 34, designed to enhance the skills of District Government managers and provide them with the tools to be more effective leaders.
“We both went down, and I was on top of him,” he said. “Then there was another passenger help me who also jumped on him, and I saw the the gun at this point was not in the perpetrator hands.”
Kateryna Pyatybratova, Director of the Cafritz Awards Program said, “The bravery of these individuals quickly brought the rampage to an end, and prevented further tragedy. We honor their extraordinary courage and selflessness, and feel proud to have been connected through them in our leadership development work.”
Photo caption: From left to right: Shante Trumpet, 2017 Cafritz Team Award Winner and Timour Skrynnikov, Program for Excellence in Municipal Management, Cohort 34. Photo credits: Jason Dixon Photography.