Two gunmen opened fire on a crowd boarding a SEPTA bus Monday afternoon in the Ogontz neighborhood, leaving a teenager dead and four other people injured, police said.
The gunfire erupted at around 3:45 p.m. as a crowd of about 15 to 20 students gathered at a bus stop at Ogontz and Godfrey avenues, near a pair of schools, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told reporters at the scene.
Authorities on Tuesday morning identified the boy killed as 17-year-old Dayemen Taylor, who lived in the Fern Rock area. Bethel said Monday afternoon that police believe he was “targeted.”
A School District of Philadelphia spokesperson said Taylor attended Imhotep Institute Charter High School, which is located a block away from the scene of the mass shooting. A district-run school – Prince Hall Elementary – is also near the intersection. Attempts to reach Imhotep administrators were unsuccessful Tuesday.
Investigators said a 71-year-old woman who was riding the bus with her grocery cart was shot in her forehead, and a 50-year-old woman was grazed in her forearm. Two other teens – boys ages 14 and 15 – also suffered graze wounds. All four were hospitalized with nonlife-threatening injuries.
No arrests had been made when Metro went to print Tuesday. Anyone with information is asked to contact the PPD’s Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334/3335; call or text 215-686-8477; or go to phillypolice.com/forms/submit-a-tip.
District Attorney Larry Krasner, during a morning news conference, said there had been developments in the case Monday night and during the day Tuesday, but he declined to elaborate.
“This is an absolute outrage. It will be solved,” he said. “Those responsible will be vigorously prosecuted and get the just and appropriate consequences in this case.”
Bethel said afternoons have turned into “one of the most dangerous times” for violence in the city once school is dismissed. But he said “it could have been much worse” because the shots were fired at a busy intersection where people were aboard a bus and at a daycare across the street.
People were getting on a Route 6 bus when shots were fired. The bus driver, a 12-year SEPTA veteran, swiftly hit the gas pedal and drove several blocks away from the scene – a move described as “heroic” by authority spokesperson Andrew Busch.
“It’s very likely that the bus operator’s quick thinking prevented there being any additional injuries to people on the bus or possibly more serious injuries,” Busch told Metro.
Operators are trained to get vehicles and riders away from dangerous incidents as quickly as possible, he added.
Less than 24 hours earlier, just before 11:30 p.m. Sunday, a gunman killed a man – 27-year-old Sawee Kofa – after both got off of the Route 59 bus on Castor Avenue in Oxford Circle.
“They’re both tragic situations,” Busch said. “From our perspective, we know that everybody should be able to ride on SEPTA without the fear that they’re going to be an innocent bystander and impacted by gun violence.”
Counseling, peer support and victim advocacy services are available for victims, family members and others affected by gun violence. Go to metrophiladelphia.com/gun-violence-resources for more information.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
