PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Four shootings on or near SEPTA buses within four days of each other. The transit agency’s union president asks, “Have we had enough yet?”
On Sunday, a man was shot and killed as he stepped off a bus in Oxford Circle. On Monday in Ogontz, Imhotep Institute Charter High School student Dayemen Taylor was shot and killed as he boarded a Route 6 bus. Five people, including three teens, were also wounded. On Tuesday, a man on a Route 79 bus was shot and killed by an exiting passenger in South Philly. On Wednesday, three gunmen opened fire at a SEPTA bus stop in Burholme injuring eight Northeast High School students.
And last year, on the morning of Oct. 26, a passenger exited a Route 23 bus and shot driver Bernard Gribbin six times in the chest. Gribbin was a 12-year veteran of SEPTA. He was taken to the hospital where he died about 10 minutes later of his injuries.
Transit Workers Union Local 234 President Brian Pollitt is demanding action from Gov. Josh Shapiro, Mayor Cherelle Parker, and SEPTA officials. He says his drivers are stressed and troubled because they feel they're out there alone, and that the company “doesn't give a damn about them.”
He says he’s been asking for National Guard deployment in their transit system for four years, similar to what New York City is doing.
“I think that governor needs a round of applause because they're going through the very same thing that we're going through,” Pollitt said.
Pollitt says he understands that the governor doesn’t want the city to look like a war zone, but something needs to be done because nothing has improved.
SEPTA has hired more transit police but Pollitt says even at full strength they cannot solve the problem given its magnitude.
He says many drivers are seeking retirement because it's “too dangerous.”
“And I got young people coming in the door and once they come in here and see how things are, they're going out there looking for other opportunities.”
At a recent press conference, Shapiro said he had no plans of deploying the National Guard but is in talks with Parker about increased state police patrols.