Metro News Release

For immediate release: November 21, 2005

Man Struck By Train at Columbia Heights Metrorail Station Dies

A man struck by a six-car Green Line train on Thursday evening at the Columbia Heights Metrorail station died Saturday, November 19.

On Thursday, November 17, Marcus Porter, 29 of Washington, D.C., was struck by the train at 5:47 a.m. as it pulled into the Columbia Heights Metrorail station headed in the direction of Greenbelt.

According to the police department’s preliminary investigation, Mr. Porter stepped onto the tracks prior to the train entering the station. The train operator hit the emergency brake, but the train was not able to stop before striking the man. He was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

The official cause and manner of death will be determined by the District of Columbia Medical Examiner’s office.

Metro officials closed the station while emergency personnel responded to the scene. Trains continued to move through the station while they shared a single track from the U St./African-Amer Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Metrorail station to the Georgia Ave-Petworth station. Free shuttle buses were sent to the Georgia Ave, Columbia Heights and U St Metrorail stations to help rail riders get around the incident.The station reopened at 6:36 p.m., at which time trains continued to share a single track that was not occupied by the train that hit Mr. Porter. Service returned to normal once the train was sent to the rail yard.

News release issued on November 21, 2005.