The Brief Federal prosecutors have charged 42-year-old Anthony Gresham after a teenager was shot three times on a Midtown MARTA train. The Department of Justice intervened due to critical transportation infrastructure following a separate violent stabbing on mass transit. Gresham faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in federal prison with no option for parole if convicted.



A 42-year-old man faces new federal charges after authorities accused him of shooting a high school senior three times inside a Midtown MARTA train.

Midtown MARTA shooting

What we know:

A high school senior, Javon Easterling, was leaving a science and engineering program at Georgia Tech when violence erupted on his commute. According to authorities, Anthony Gresham walked onto the train where the teenager was sitting and fired three shots in his direction, hitting the boy in the hand and leg. Medics rushed the 17-year-old to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment.

The Department of Justice filed federal charges against Gresham for committing an act of violence with intent to hurt someone on a mass transit system. These charges come on top of existing state charges. U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg noted that Gresham has a 20-year criminal history, having spent 18 of the last 20 years in prison up until 2024 for convictions ranging from robbery to aggravated assault. If convicted of the federal offense, Gresham faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years in federal prison with no possibility of parole.

Federal intervention details

What we don't know:

Officials have not yet confirmed what sparked the interaction inside the train car or whether the suspect and the teenager knew each other prior to the shooting. It remains unclear when Gresham will make his initial appearance in federal court or when the state-level trials will proceed.

Rising transit violence

The backstory:

This marks the second time within a single week that federal prosecutors have stepped in to handle violence on the transit network. On May 30, the Department of Justice charged 25-year-old John Elijah Matthews with fatally stabbing 66-ye

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