SEPTA transit police shoot knife-wielding man near City Hall

SEPTA police shot a 48-year-old man Monday night near City Hall after he slashed three people, including an unarmed transit security guard, with a knife inside a Broad Street Line station, authorities said.

The man, with a knife in both hands, began swinging the blades at two customers, seemingly at random, just after 8 p.m. on the northbound side of the Walnut-Locust stop in Center City, SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said.

A security guard, employed by Extrity, a SEPTA contractor, alerted transit police and attempted to intervene, he said. The man attacked her, cutting her across the neck, Busch added.

She suffered the most serious injuries of the three and was taken to Jefferson University Hospital. Busch said she is expected to physically recover. The other two victims were treated at the scene.

The suspect left the underground station and walked toward City Hall, where transit officers encountered him, according to Busch. One of the officers attempted to tase him, but the device had no effect, officials said.

Busch said the man tried to run away, and, as the officers were chasing him, he turned around and came at police with the knives. That’s when one of the officers shot him three times, according to SEPTA.

The man was hospitalized with serious injuries but is expected to survive, authorities said. Charges are pending, Busch told Metro, and SEPTA police have not publicly identified him.

SEPTA has opened an internal investigation and placed the officer who opened fire on administrative duty, in line with the authority’s protocol for officer-involved shootings.