3 women injured in SEPTA bus shooting in West Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — City and SEPTA police are investigating after a shooting aboard a SEPTA bus left three women hurt on Tuesday afternoon.

According to SEPTA, the shooting happened around 4:30 p.m. near 57th Street and Larchwood Avenue in West Philadelphia's Cobbs Creek section.

Responding officers found a 29-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to the hip, a 56-year-old woman with a wound to the back, and a 60-year-old woman with a graze wound to the head, said Chief Inspector Scott Small. All three were taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital, where they are in stable condition.

According to witnesses and the bus operator, three young men, possibly juveniles, got on the bus in South Philadelphia on Oregon Avenue and did not pay the fare, said Small. They argued with the driver before walking to the back of the bus.

The three young men exited the bus at 57th and Catherine streets, where one of them pulled a semi-automatic handgun and fired four shots into the bus from the outside, hitting the three women inside, Small said. The shooter and his two companions then fled on foot.

"We found four spent shell casings at 57th and Catherine, and we found four bullet holes in the passenger side of the bus," Small said.

"According to the bus driver, the SEPTA bus was full to capacity with over 50 passengers."

After the bus stopped at 57th and Larchwood streets, a couple blocks from the shooting scene, all passengers except the three wounded women exited the bus and fled.

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information is urged to call the police's tip line at 215-686-TIPS.