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Philly police searching for gunman who shot 3 women on SEPTA bus

Police released images of the man they say shot at a SEPTA bus and injured three women.

A bullet hole in the window of the SEPTAQ bus on which three women were shot late Tuesday afternoon in West Philadelphia.
A bullet hole in the window of the SEPTAQ bus on which three women were shot late Tuesday afternoon in West Philadelphia.Read moreSteven M. Falk / Staff Photographer

Philadelphia police are asking for the public’s help in finding the man they say shot at a SEPTA bus in West Philadelphia on Tuesday, injuring three women.

To aid in the search, police released images and a description of the suspected gunman, who they say has a medium build, a light beard, and shoulder-length dreadlocks. He was last seen wearing a black Under Armour zip-up jacket over a white T-shirt, black pants, gray sneakers, and a blue surgical mask, police said.

Shortly after 4:30 p.m. at 57th and Catharine Streets, four males, including the shooter, got out of a G bus and the gunman brandished a black-and-silver gun and started firing at the bus, said Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore.

Three women who were on the bus were struck by bullets, he said.

A 56-year-old woman was shot once in the lower back, a 29-year-old woman was shot in the right buttock, and a 60-year-old woman was grazed on the right side of her head, police said. All three women were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where they were listed in stable condition.

The bus sped away from the gunfire and stopped at 57th Street and Larchwood Avenue, about a block away, police said.

In the moments leading up to the shooting, police said, the four got on the bus at 19th Street and Oregon Avenue and did not pay the fare. One of them briefly exchanged words with the bus driver, but there were no other problems reported until the four got off the bus at 57th and Catharine Streets, police said.

That’s when one of them “fired four shots into the side of the bus,” Chief Inspector Scott Small said. Four spent shell casings were recovered outside the bus, he said.

The motive for the shooting was unclear. No arrests had been made and no weapon was recovered.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Philadelphia Police Department’s Shooting Investigations Group at 215-686-8270 or to call or text the department’s tipline at 215-686-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous.