Shocking video footage has captured the moment an innocent man was shoved in front of an incoming train.
Peter Michael Walbrun was waiting at his train stop on March 19 while looking at his phone before the terrifying incident unfolded.
CCTV footage shows a second man, identified as Elisio Melendez, 26, dressed in a black hoodie standing about two metres from Mr Walbrun, partially hidden by a pole at the Seattle Northgate light rail station.
Sign up to The Nightly’s newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
As the train approaches, Mr Melendez is seen looking both in front at the incoming cars and behind himself.
The 26-year-old then allegedly lunged and used his body weight to send Mr Walbrun into the path of the incoming train, which was only a second or two away from his standing point.
The force of the push allegedly sent Mr Walbrun stumbling to the edge of the platform, but thankfully he managed to get his footing right and avoid being hit.
Mr Walbrun is seen quickly turning around toward Mr Melendez, who allegedly tried to shove him a second time into the moving train cars as they began to slow.
The CCTV footage appears to show Mr Melendez fleeing after the second shove with Mr Walbrun following him out of sight of the camera.
About 45 minutes after the incident, police attended to the train station after a report was made of an attempted homicide.
After following a process of identification that began by tracing Mr Melendez’s alleged movements from CCTV footage near the train station, police found him at a nearby home the following day.
A week after the incident, King County prosecutors charged Mr Melendez with second-degree murder, the Seattle Times reported.
They alleged that the 26-year-old “carefully timed” his attempt to push Mr Walbrun in front of the train, and will attempt to prove he had a clear goal of inflicting maximum harm.
Mr Melendez is currently being held on a bond of about $108,000 in King County Jail.
