An elderly man is fighting for his life while seven other people, including a teen girl, are recovering after a gunman opened fire in broad daylight near a busy SEPTA station in Philadelphia’s Olney section Wednesday afternoon.
The shooting occurred around 2:50 p.m. at Broad Street and Olney Avenue near the Olney Transportation Center and Albert Einstein Medical Center.
"Today's mass shooting near the Olney Transportation Center, in broad daylight, is yet another tragic example of the vicious, outrageous, and unacceptable gun violence epidemic that's threatening the lives and safety of our fellow Philadelphians," Mayor Jim Kenney wrote in a statement.
NBC10 obtained surveillance video showing people fleeing for safety after the shots were fired.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
"We saw them running and people was falling down and I was like, 'Oh my God, that's a random gunshot,'" Lisa Poe, a SEPTA rider, told NBC10.
A 22-year-old man was shot once in the back, a 21-year-old man was shot once in the right leg, a 53-year-old man was shot in the right leg, a 36-year-old woman was shot in the right thigh, a 70-year-old man was shot in the right thigh, a 17-year-old girl was shot in the right arm, a 48-year-old man suffered a graze wound to the stomach and a 71-year-old man was shot once in the stomach and multiple times in both legs.
U.S. & World
"We didn't see no shooter, we just heard all the shots and everybody was just running in the crowd," Poe said.
Six of the victims were taken to the Albert Einstein Medical Center while a seventh victim was taken by police to Temple University Hospital.
Later, the 48-year-old man walked into the Albert Einstein Medical Center for treatment.
The 71-year-old man is currently in critical condition while the seven other victims are all stable.
Two guns were also recovered and at least one person was apprehended in connection to the shooting.
So far this year, there have been 251 shooting victims, up 68.5 percent from the same time last year.
"I am beyond sickened," Mayor Kenney wrote. "I refuse to accept this emergency situation as normal. We must rise together with one clear and united moral voice against the evil act of violence. People have the right to travel between work and home, and around town, without the fear of being shot, and possibly killed, by reckless, indiscriminate gunfire."
Investigators told NBC10 they are looking into whether Wednesday's shooting is connected to other recent ones in the area.
"This is happening far too often. It's happening in broad daylight. And we need everyone to come together to help us solve these cases," Philadelphia Police Chief Danielle Outlaw said.
If you have any information on the shooting, please call 215-686-TIPS.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
