Family of DC man who died on Metro escalator accident grieving

WASHINGTON - Family members are grieving the loss of 66-year-old Saul Edmonds, the man who they say died this week after tumbling down a Metro station escalator in his electric scooter.

Saturday evening they held a candlelight vigil for Edmonds outside of the Columbia Heights Metro Station, where the apparent accident took place Wednesday afternoon.

"When I got that call Wednesday I was just like, I was in shock. I thought it wasn't true," niece Teresa Edmonds-Poston said Saturday.

Added close family friend Lashaunda Hicks, "its like a dream and I want to wake up out of it. It's real hard. It's real hard to go and retrieve his belongings from Metro. It's very, very hard."

Hicks and Edmonds-Poston said Edmonds, who was born and raised in Northeast D.C., had just celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago. They added that he'd ridden his scooter up Metro escalators previously without a problem.

"He is truly going to be missed," Hicks said. "An amazing man, very amazing man."