A teen stopped by two Metro workers as he entered the Franconia-Springfield station with two rifle bags was arrested after he was found to be carrying several guns and rounds of ammunition. Metro station managers Antonio Kornegay and Kevin McCormick were working at the Blue Line station on Dec. 29, when they saw the teen carrying the two bags, according to Metro.
They stopped him as he headed to the faregates and asked about the bags, said acting Deputy General Manager Dave Kubicek.
The teen said they only contained BB guns. The two managers explained that guns of any kind weren’t allowed on the transit system. McCormick convinced him to leave the station.
The managers told transit police, who then followed the teen to the bus bay outside the station. They found the bag contained a handgun with its serial number filed off, a 12-gauge shotgun, a .22 caliber rifle, a .44 Magnum handgun and multiple rounds of ammunition, Metro officials said.
He was arrested and initially charged with carrying a concealed weapon, said Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. The agency did not provide the teen’s age or release his name because he is a minor.
“Throughout the entire incident, at no time were Metro’s customers in danger,” Kubicek said.
The two Metro station managers were honored for questioning the teen at Metro’s board meeting Thursday.
The transit agency has been under fire for its new random bag-searching policy, an effort to stop terrorists from bringing explosives onto the system. Civil liberties groups and the agency’s own Riders’ Advisory Council have called for Metro to stop the searches.
The teen’s questioning did not occur during one of the random searches, but the agency highlighted it as an example of its mantra that “if you see something, you should say something.”
