A Montgomery County jury found an FBI agent not guilty of attempted murder in a shooting on a Metro train in 2020. News4’s Paul Wagner explains what both sides said in closing arguments.
A jury in Montgomery County, Maryland, found an FBI agent accused of attempted murder in a shooting on a Metro train not guilty of all charges on Friday.
The agent, Eduardo Valdivia, of Gaithersburg, was charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment after police said he shot at a man on a train near the Medical Center Metro station in Bethesda on Dec. 15, 2020. Valdivia was off-duty at the time of the shooting.
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The prosecution and defense made their closing arguments Friday morning.
At the center of the prosecution's case was a video of the interaction between Valdivia and the man.
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In the video, their interaction starts with a fist bump. But when the man asked Valdivia for money on the train, the agent said no and the man muttered expletives while walking away, prosecutors said. Valdivia told the man, “Watch your mouth,” and the man turned around and approached Valdivia, who told him to back up multiple times.
“It was over until Valdivia couldn’t let it go," Assistant State's Attorney John Lalos said.
Little more than a minute went by before the agent pulled out his 9mm pistol and shot the man he says was about to attack him.
“You don’t get to shoot people for hurting your feelings. He never touched him. There was no immediate threat," Lalos told the jury. “This was not a reasonable response. He had options. He chose the most serious.”
Valdivia shot the man from 2 to 3 feet away, prosecutors 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.
“He believes what he did was necessary," Valdivia's attorney Bob Bonsib told the jury. “There was no intent to kill. He had 15 rounds. He only used two. His intent was to protect himself."
Bonsib said 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.
A Metro Transit Police officer told the jury that the man was well known to police and had a propensity for violence.
The defense dismissed the idea the man was just asking for money.
"Just a panhandler? Yea, right. I’ve got a bridge to sell ya. He’s every commuter’s nightmare,” Bonsib said.
Valdivia testified during the trial that he felt he was about to be attacked and that there was an imminent threat when he pulled out his gun and fired.
In a 911 call released in January, a witness said the agent had warned the man to back away, but the man ignored the command and instead prepared to fight him, the Washington Post reported.
“The FBI agent said: ‘Move away. I’m an FBI agent. Back away,'" the 911 caller said. “The other gentleman didn’t, dropped his bag, approached him to fight him.”
The caller said the FBI agent was attacked by the other passenger but did not describe how.
Valdivia was suspended from the FBI without pay and ordered to turn over his guns and passport, his lawyer said. It's unclear what his status will be with the agency following Friday's verdict.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
