3 women shot on SEPTA bus in West Philly

Three women were shot on a SEPTA bus late Tuesday afternoon in West Philadelphia, police said.

Shortly after 4:30 p.m. at 57th and Catharine Streets, several assailants who got on the G bus in South Philadelphia exited and started firing into the bus, police 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 transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where they were listed in stable condition.

The bus sped away from the shooters and stopped at 57th Street and Larchwood Avenue.

“It looks like there was a group of males that exited the bus following a disturbance, and then they turned and shot at the bus, striking the three passengers,” SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said in an email.

SEPTA transit police were reviewing security video from the bus to find out more about what happened, Busch said.

Chief Inspector Scott Small said three teen boys got on the bus at 19th Street and Oregon Avenue and did not pay the fare. There was a verbal exchange between one of the teens and the bus driver, but nothing else reportedly occurred until the bus reached 57th and Catharine.

As the teens were getting off, “for some reason, one of them fired four shots into the side of the bus,” Small said.

There were more than 50 passengers on the bus and all of them got off after the shooting except for the victims and the young child of the 29-year-old woman, Small said.

Four spent shell casings were recovered outside the bus, Small said.

Police reported no arrests.