A man tried to commit suicide on the Metro system Monday night but was saved when the Red Line train operator stopped the train before hitting him, according to Metro.
It was the third time within a week that the system had to respond to people in the tracks or trying to kill themselves on the system — and lived to tell about it.
The latest case involved a man at the Friendship Heights station at 9:32 p.m., said Metro spokesman Dan Stessel. The man jumped off the platform into the path of a train, apparently on purpose. But the train was far enough away and traveling slowly enough that the operator could stop it in time before hitting him, Stessel said.
The man was taken to a hospital to be checked out.
Also, just before 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Metro had to shut down power to the tracks at the Takoma station after four people were reportedly on the tracks, Stessel said.
Apparently a woman who was highly intoxicated and distraught about a recent death had gotten onto the tracks, then three people with her got into the tracks to help her.
No trains passed through the area, and train power was down for about 10 minutes to both tracks. No one was injured, Stessel said, but the woman was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
Last week, a third person survived a four-story jump from a Metro parking garage in another suicide bid.
