A "joyful" Philadelphia high school student was gunned down in an after-school shooting at a North Philadelphia SEPTA bus stop that left four other people -- including two women on a bus and two other teens -- injured Monday afternoon.
The mass shooting took place just before 3:45 p.m. at Ogontz and Godfrey avenues in the Ogontz neighborhood when two people -- at least one with an automatic weapon -- fired at a group of young people waiting at a bus stop, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said at a news conference.
"Multiple rounds were fired," Bethel said.
According to the police, the shooters fired more than 50 times with an automatic weapon.
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Dayemen Taylor was shot multiple times throughout his body, police said. The 17-year-old from the Fern Rock neighborhood died a short time later at the hospital.
"It definitely appears that (our decedent) was targeted," Bethel said.
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A 15-year-old boy who ran down the street suffered a graze wound to his shoulder, investigators said. A 14-year-old showed up to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his backside. Both boys were listed in stable condition at the hospital.
Imhotep Institute Charter High School CEO Baba Andre Noble told NBC10 that two of their students -- including Taylor -- from the nearby school were victims in the shooting. The school was closed Tuesday and students were set to learn virtually on Wednesday.
NBC10 spoke with the family of Taylor and his school on Tuesday. Imhotep said he was a junior and the youngest of four kids.
"The Imhotep Institute Charter High School family has a heavy heart today," Imhoptep said in a Tuesday statement. "The last 24 hours have been our greatest fear, one of our young kings killed by gun violence. Dayemen Taylor had a joyful smile and loved our school as we loved him,
"We will remember his jokes, smile and curiosity for learning. We will work with his family to keep his memory alive. We are also focused on the healing and safety of our community."
"We started hearing screaming and all the commotion," witness Ed Gutierrez said. "Then all the kids start running."
The SEPTA Route 6 had just pulled up and people were getting on and off when the gunfire erupted, Bethel said.
Two women on the bus were also shot, Bethel said. A bullet grazed a 50-year-old woman in the forearm, while a 71-year-old woman was shot in the head. Both women were being treated in stable condition at a hospital.
"They were innocent bystanders," Bethel said. "They were inside, on the bus, when they were struck."
Bethel credited the glass of the bus for slowing the bullets that struck the women.
“SEPTA Police will continue to assist PPD as this investigation moves forward," SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch said. "This was a horrific incident that claimed one life and left several others injured, including two women on the Route 6 bus who were just trying to go about their day."
The bus driver sped off before stopping several blocks away at North 16th Street and Champlost Avenue, investigators said.
SkyForce10 was over the scenes in the moments after the shooting. Several police cars could be seen blocking the intersection, the bus was stopped and had multiple bullet holes through one of its windows. At the shooting scene, there were evidence markers on the ground indicating over a dozen bullet casings.
Surveillance videos show people ducking for cover from the gunfire and people running off the bus after it stopped.
Bethel said the two suspects fled the shooting scene.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner spoke about the shooting on Tuesday.
"There is no compromise with people who shoot juveniles and kill them. There is no compromise with people who put a bullet through the window of a SEPTA bus, and it strikes the head of a 70-year-old woman with a grocery cart," Krasner said.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
With a day care nearby and several people in the area it could have been worse, Bethel said.
"We're never fortunate when we lose a child -- in particular a 17-year-old -- but if you look around here -- how busy this intersection is -- a day care across the street, multiple people on the bus and multiple rounds being fired it could have been much worse."
The shooting rocked people in the neighborhood, including people picking up children at the nearby day care center.
"I’m really getting frightened now, for real for real, you know what I mean," neighbor Patricia White said. "Hey, it could have been inside the school, I could have been coming to pick them up like am now, and then it could have happened all of a sudden.”
At this time police have not identified any of the victims.
Bethel said this shooting "reaffirms the work" police have to do to stop the violence. "Homicides are down... but at the end of the day that’s not good enough."
Entering Wednesday, Philadelphia police reported 55 homicides so far in 2024. That's down 30% from last year and the slowest homicide rate since 2019.
Children have also been caught in the crossfire in about 8% of the nearly 170 shootings in the city as of the most recent City Controller's Office shooting data last updated on Sunday.
"We are dealing simply with broader issues, the prevalence of guns [and] the availability of after-market hardware that can modify those guns," Krasner said. "We will not stop our efforts to prevent the next victimization."
SEPTA -- which saw a person shot and killed less than 24 hours earlier as he got off a bus in another part of the city -- called the violence "unacceptable."
"All SEPTA customers should be able to feel safe while they are traveling," Busch said. "We provide 700,000 passenger trips a day, and incidents like this are extremely rare. But even one is unacceptable, and SEPTA Police will continue working closely with Philadelphia Police and other law enforcement partners on measures to enhance safety and security on our transit system."
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