PHILADELPHIA, PA – An afternoon shooting at a SEPTA bus stop in Philadelphia led to the death of a teenager and injured four others, the police reported. The fatal shooting happened around 3:45 p.m. near the crossroads of Broad Street and Godfrey Avenue. The deceased teenager, a 17-year-old male, sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
According to police reports, two 15-year-old boys suffered graze wounds during the incident. Two female victims were also injured, one being a 71-year-old woman who was shot in the head and a 49-year-old woman who sustained a graze wound on her right forearm.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, during a media briefing on Monday, suggested that the murder victim appeared to have been specifically targeted.
A significant number of school-aged children, approximately 20, were at the bus stop when two unidentified individuals proceeded to execute the shooting. The two women injured in the incident were aboard the bus at the time of the shooting.
“The bus is stopped. People are starting to board the bus, and that’s when we have two individuals come up and start to fire,” explained Bethel. He further highlighted the busy nature of the intersection where the shooting occurred and the number of rounds that were fired. “It could have been much worse,” Bethel added. As of Monday night, no arrests have been made.
SEPTA spokesperson, Andrew Busch, condemned the incident and maintained that such events are extremely out of the ordinary for the transit service, adding that even one is unacceptable.