What to Know
- A gun battle took place outside a stopped Route 56 SEPTA bus on Torresdale Avenue Thursday morning.
- Officer Donald Revill was shot in the arm, police said. He was awake and talking while being treated at the hospital.
- The gunman was hospitalized in critical condition after being struck multiple times, police said.
A Philadelphia police officer was struck in the arm and a gunman was critically hurt as a gun battle erupted outside a SEPTA bus full of passengers along a busy street in the Wissinoming section Thursday morning.
Police initially responded to a report of a man with a gun on Comly Street near Torresdale Avenue around 10 a.m. Thursday.
An officer saw a man matching the gunman's description boarding a Route 56 bus, police said. That officer relayed that info to other 15th District officers who spotted the bus about a block away on Torresdale near Howell Street and blocked its path.
The man then pointed a gun at the officers, later identified as eight-year veteran Officer Michael Kilroy and nine-year veteran Officer Charles Schuck, after they boarded the bus, Philadelphia police said said.
The veteran officers quickly retreated and exited. The gunman followed them out and began shooting, prompting the officers to fire back, Philadelphia Police Capt. Sekou Kinebrew said.
During the melee a third 15th District officer, later identified as 37-year-old Donald Revill, got into a "tussle" with the gunman, wrestling him to the ground.
At some point, Revill was shot in his right forearm, Kinebrew said. Revill was awake and talking as he was being treated in stable condition at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital. He walked out of the hospital early Thursday afternoon.
Initial investigation indicated each of the two initial responding officers fired at least three shots, Kinebrew said. The suspected gunman, identified as Walter Farrell, was struck multiple times in his body.
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Officers scooped up the 54-year-old gunman and rushed him to Temple University Hospital, police said. He was listed in critical condition.
Revill never fired his weapon, police said.
The bus driver flipped the message on the outside message marquee to "Call 911," SEPTA officials said. That action activated SEPTA's emergency center.
About 15 people were on the bus at the time, SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch said. None of them were hurt.
After being allowed off the bus, passengers on the bus described what they heard and saw, including several gunshot being fired.
A group of teenagers who were headed to school were among the passengers on the bus. They were reunited with their parents briefly after being held on the bus. They were then led into a waiting police van so they could be questioned.
At least one passenger said he learned of the armed man on the bus because a message shared by the driver on the digital board on board the bus.
The shooting took place after the bus stopped and a police officer approached the door, the passenger said.
"I'm not gonna lie, I feared for my life," the witness said.
A large police presence descended on the area after the shooting, which is just feet from various businesses. Police officers could be seen going onto and off of the stopped bus.
There are additional community resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence. Further information can be found here.
