Man stabbed at SEPTA’s 69th Street Station in Upper Darby; suspect in custody

A suspect in a Tuesday morning stabbing inside SEPTA’s 69th Street Transportation Center was arrested in Philadelphia, according to transit officials.

Police responded to the fare terminal for the eastbound Market-Frankford Line in Upper Darby about 9 a.m. after receiving reports that one man had stabbed another following a brief altercation.

The man was stabbed at least once in his torso and taken to a nearby hospital, according to SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.

The man’s identity and his condition were not immediately available, but Busch described the injury as “serious,” and said the man was undergoing surgery.

SEPTA transit police apprehended the suspect shortly after 11:30 a.m. near the agency’s 52nd Street Station, Busch said. He was placed in custody of the Upper Darby police; his identity had not been released.

Investigators believed the suspect initially fled Upper Darby on an eastbound Market-Frankford train, launching a multi-department search that included the Philadelphia police department.

After exiting the train, the suspect was tracked using both SEPTA and the city’s surveillance cameras. Transit police apprehended him at a residence at 51st and Arch Streets, according to Busch.

The Market-Frankford Line was briefly operating with delays as SEPTA put all of its efforts into finding the suspect, Busch said.

The stabbing comes two weeks after SEPTA transit police shot a 48-year-old man who was suspected of attacking three people with a knife at a Center City subway station. The suspect was accused of slashing two people at the Walnut-Locust Station on Nov. 27 before stabbing a private security guard — hired to secure the transit system — in the neck. The suspect in the stabbings, Gregory Skane, died Sunday.

On Nov. 19, a 16-year-old girl fired a gun into a crowd of young people on the concourse at 15th and Market Streets. No one was struck, and the girl was expected to faces charges of aggravated assault and firearms violations.

SEPTA transit police officers, meanwhile, are in negotiations with SEPTA and are asking for a pay increase amid a staffing shortage and a rise in antisocial behaviors — such as smoking and turnstile jumping — but not violent crimes.

Leaders of the transit police union decided last month to put their plans for a strike on hold until Wednesday, at which point members will decide whether to strike after a formal analysis of the transit agency’s latest contract offer.

Staff writer Rodrigo Torrejón contributed to this article.