Suspect charged in D.C. transit scare

A man who fired a gunshot on a rail platform and sprayed a clear liquid inside a train car operated by the Washington (D.C.) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has been charged with attempted murder of a police officer. Kenneth Ranger, 23, was arrested Tuesday at the Southern Avenue Station. In addition to attempted murder, he was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, assault and resisting arrest. No one was hurt in the incident. Ranger, who was also carrying a knife, was confronted by transit police on a Metro train Tuesday morning after forcing his way through fare gates without paying. The suspect sprayed liquid from a red plastic bottle and managed to fire a shot with a handgun before being subdued by police. The four-passenger car was allowed to continue to pick up and discharge passengers at five more stations despite the possibility that the liquid spray was a hazardous agent. Transit officials said the spray was a cleaning agent and did not pose a biological or chemical threat.