(USNewsBreak.com) – It’s a sad fact that mass shootings are becoming the norm for Americans. In 2023, 656 mass shootings occurred, the second-highest recorded number over the last decade. As of March 8, the nation has seen 71 in 2024. One recently took place at a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) bus stop in Philadelphia.
The shooting, which injured eight teenagers, occurred around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6. An assailant shot one kid, only 17-years-old, nine times. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel said authorities have four suspects. Three of them got out of a parked car near the bus stop wearing masks and opened fire on the group of teens getting ready to board the vehicle. Bethel said they fired at least 30 shots. The victims varied in age from 15 to 17.
Philadelphia police continue piecing together bus stop shooting that injured 8 students https://t.co/D4szhaTY3a
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 8, 2024
Police have not identified or captured any of the suspects as of the time of writing. However, authorities recovered the vehicle they arrived in, a blue Hyundai Sonata, on the night of the shooting. The owners had reported it stolen earlier this month.
While investigators don’t have a solid motive at this point in their inquiry, they are determining whether the shooting was retaliation for the death of another 17-year-old killed in a separate shooting this week. In that event, someone opened fire on a group boarding another SEPTA bus located just four miles away from the scene of the Wednesday crime.
According to Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore, the hospital listed the 17-year-old who suffered nine gunshot wounds in critical condition as of March 7. According to Fox News, he also said the investigation was “starting to come together,” and they expect to know soon “more about what happened [Wednesday] and who [they] may be looking for.”
Other shooting deaths have also occurred at the city’s bus stops. On Tuesday, March 5, an unknown assailant fatally shot a 37-year-old man, and two days prior to that, a gunman wounded a 27-year-old man as he exited a bus.
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