US: Philadelphia Bus Stop Shoots Eight Teens, Fourth Gunfire Incident in a Week

Eight Philadelphia high school students were wounded by bullets from suspects who sprang from a vehicle and opened fire on Wednesday as they were waiting to board a municipal bus after classes, according to police. This is the fourth shooting on the transit system in as many days.

There had been a death in each of the preceding three shootings. At a press conference, Kevin Bethel, the city’s police commissioner, said that at least one kid, a 16-year-old who had been struck nine times, was gravely injured at the bus stop. The status of the others remained steady.

Around three o’clock in the afternoon, according to Bethel, three individuals got out of the waiting automobile and opened fire, firing around thirty rounds at the Northeast High School kids, who were between the ages of fifteen and seventeen.

According to police spokesman Tanya Little, authorities then got many 911 calls about a “mass shooting on the highway near Dunkin’ Donuts” in northeast Philadelphia.

A representative for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, named John Golden said that the wounded teenagers were sent to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital and Einstein Medical Center. Gunfire struck two buses, a Route 18 and a Route 67 bus, although neither the driver nor any of the passengers were reported to have been hurt.

With almost 3,000 students, Northeast High School is the biggest public high school in the city and is located over a mile from the shooting site.

According to Monique Braxton, the Philadelphia school district’s deputy head of communications, the shooting happened close to Crossan Elementary, which at the time was releasing pupils but later brought them back inside and shut down. The police eventually gave it the all-clear.

Present at the scene alongside the superintendent of schools, the commissioner of police, and the prosecutor, Mayor Cherelle Parker expressed her desire for people to understand that “we will not be held hostage, that we will use every legal tool in the toolbox to ensure the public health and safety of the people of our city.”

“We are absolutely heartbroken and angry that innocent children walking home from school would be impacted by gun violence, and we agree with the mayor: Enough is enough,” said Superintendent Tony Watlington Sr.

Following the gunshot, the area was delineated by yellow police tape, and several evidence markers were scattered over the wet pavement.

Jessica Healy, a neighborhood resident who was there with her 2-year-old daughter, claimed that the area has become increasingly dangerous in recent years and that several of her neighbors have already moved because of these events.

Healy said, “I don’t even want to walk my daughter out here because I think it’s really sad and just dangerous.”

It’s not secure. I’m not comfortable here. I want to relocate. But we’re staying here since my partner has an excellent job here,” she said.

Brenda Keith, another lifelong resident, said she doesn’t take any special precautions to be safe other than keeping an eye on her surroundings in case she has to flee from difficulty at any moment. She is aware that some individuals may not feel comfortable in the city at the moment or may be hesitant to take the SEPTA, but she is adamant about continuing to live her life despite the shootings.

However, our city is not the only one experiencing this. Things have become worse throughout my extended stay here, but that’s just the nature of life,” Keith said.

The killing on Wednesday came after three days of shootings in which a person was murdered while boarding, boarding, or exiting a SEPTA bus.

Around 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, authorities reported that there had been a verbal altercation before a violent altercation broke out. A guy identified as 37-year-old Carmelo Drayton was struck by two rounds fired by one of the two passengers who had just departed the vehicle and turned around. Soon later, he passed away in a hospital.

Officials said that the gunman got away after donning a mask that is prohibited from being used on the public transportation system. There were no other injuries recorded, and authorities were looking into a potential motive.

Charles Lawson, the head of transit police for SEPTA, said that the victim was shot at while the driver was “immediately behind.”

On Monday, gunshots broke out at a bus stop, leaving a 17-year-old student dead and four other people injured. Two female bus passengers were among the dead.

And shortly after they both got off a bus on Sunday at 11:30 p.m., a 27-year-old guy was slain by another passenger. The reason for the two’s argument, according to witnesses, is still being looked into.

According to Frank Vanore, the deputy commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department, no one has been arrested in connection with any of the shootings as of Wednesday.

Although there has been a decrease in severe crime throughout the transit system generally, according to Lawson, a pattern has formed over the last 18 months: individuals carrying firearms, typically illegally, getting into arguments, and then opening fire. He promised that law enforcement would target illicit gun ownership using “every legal means at our disposal” and would execute the law with vigor and impunity.

“Those who are hiding are who we are going to go after. Our focus will be on fare evasion. We’re going to focus on drug usage in public,” Lawson said. “Every criminal code that is in existence will be our target.”

Lawson said that authorities are keeping a closer eye on security cameras and investigating methods for enabling staff members to securely and discreetly report any issues.