A SEPTA security guard was shot on a train in Frankford, police say

A SEPTA security guard was shot on a Market-Frankford Line train Thursday afternoon in the city’s Frankford section, police said.

The shooting happened just after 3:10 p.m. at the Arrott Transportation Center, on Frankford Avenue at Margaret Street.

The 27-year-old security guard was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition with a gunshot wound to his right leg.

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The victim works for SEPTA through the transit agency’s contract with the security firm Scotlandyard, said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.

A person answering the phone at Scotlandyard said the company had no comment.

Police reported no arrests but said a gun was recovered.

Two sources familiar with details of the incident said the security guard, who was not supposed to be armed as part of his job, also had a gun. During an altercation between the guard and the unidentified shooter, the sources said, the guard pulled out his gun.

SEPTA has security guards from three different firms, all deployed starting in spring 2022, Busch said. The transit agency has used security guards before, but the guards deployed last year have a specific assignment.

“Their duties involve riding trains and walking through stations, engage passengers about rules for riding — like no smoking — and also serve as eyes and ears for police,” Busch said in an email Thursday evening. “If they encounter a situation that needs police attention, they immediately contact police to help facilitate a fast response. These guards were given SEPTA training before they were deployed, and they are supervised by SEPTA PD.”

The security guards are not intended to replace transit police officers, Busch said.

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“We have been aggressively recruiting new officers, and just this week 21 new recruits graduated the academy and will join the force next week,” Busch said. “We also just hired four officers from other departments, and we have another strong class of 15-plus starting the academy in July.”

In May, SEPTA named Charles “Chuck” Lawson as the agency’s new chief of transit police amid surging crime rates on the transit system. Robberies and aggravated assaults on the transit system increased more than 80% from 2019 to 2021, despite the pandemic and working from home reducing SEPTA’s ridership. Crime numbers remained high in the first quarter of 2023, according to data from the agency.