FBI agent charged in off-duty shooting of man on subway

Post Reply New Topic

An FBI agent has been charged with attempted murder in the off-duty shooting of another man on a Metro subway train last year in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C., according to court records unsealed Tuesday.

The agent, Eduardo Valdivia, made his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon in Montgomery County Circuit Court on charges including attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment.

Valdivia, 37, turned himself in to local authorities at a county jail Tuesday morning, according to Chief Deputy Maxwell Uy of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Valdivia appeared at bond review hearing on a video conference call from jail Tuesday afternoon and Judge Joan Ryon agreed to release him on personal recognizance. Prosecutors didn’t object.

The charges stem from a Dec. 15 shooting on a train near Medical Center Station in Bethesda. Police for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said in a Dec. 18 statement that the agent fired multiple shots after the man had approached him that morning and they exchanged words.

The statement said the wounded man was in stable condition less than a week after the shooting. It didn't elaborate on the nature of the “verbal exchange” between him and the agent just before the shooting.

Valdivia was on his way to work on the morning of the shooting when he was confronted by a man who Bonsib said “engaged in threatening and aggressive behavior" at close range.

When the man asked Valdivia for money on the train, the agent said no and the man muttered expletives while walking away, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Hill said during Tuesday's hearing. Valdivia told the man, “Watch your mouth,” and the man turned around and approached Valdivia, who told him to back up multiple times. Valdivia shot the man from 2 to 3 feet away, Hill said, and did not identify himself as an agent until after the shooting. The man had part or all of his spleen, colon and pancreas removed during surgery after the shooting.

Bonsib also signaled his plans to invoke in his client's defense the background of the man who was shot in asserting that the shooting was justified. He attached documents showing a lengthy criminal history that he said matched the identity of the shooting victim, including arrests for prior sexual misconduct — such as exposing himself — as well as unprovoked physical attacks. Bonsib said court records indicate the wounded man has a history of unpredictable and violent behavior, including an 2019 incident in which the man allegedly attacked and threatened to kill somebody at a Metro station.