Moment Philadelphia Commuters Pin Down Alleged Gunman—Video

Passengers bundled a gunman out of a train and held him down on the station platform until police arrived after he shot a man inside the car during rush hour, police say.

In dramatic scenes captured on video by an eyewitness, two men—including the gunshot victim—sit on top of the alleged suspect as someone repeatedly shouts at bystanders to “call 911!”

Violence erupted onboard the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Market-Frankford Line train in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Friday morning, according to CBS News Philadelphia.

Four men were involved in the incident, acting chief of SEPTA Police Charles Lawson told the channel, adding: “The individual who was shot subsequently held on to the shooter until police arrived, [with officers] subsequently detaining three of the four individuals involved.”

The incident unfolded around 7:40 a.m. and began as an altercation between two men inside the train heading into 52nd Street Station, according to ABC 6. Two further men then became involved, turning the incident into a “three-on-one assault,” Lawson said. “One of those [four] individuals produced a handgun, firing a round, striking one of the assailants in the arm.” It was not clear from his comments whether it was one of the three men, or the lone man, who had opened fire.

Newsweek has emailed SEPTA, which has its own transport police, seeking clarification, further information, and comment.

Footage filmed on the train by bystander Mark Krull, and shared online by reporter Steve Keeley of Fox 29, showed the moment the gun went off, with a scuffle ensuing which spilled out onto the platform. Another passenger was filmed holding a gun as he appeared to shepherd other commuters away from the incident toward safety. “Keep the kids down,” he shouted.

A further video clip, attached below, which was also shared online by Keeley, shows the suspect being pinned down by two men until police arrive to handcuff him and lead him away while another officer was seen seizing a gun and carefully unloading it.

Officers arrived at the scene within five minutes and detained all three men on suspicion of aggravated assault. They were still searching for the fourth man.

The 19-year-old gunshot victim, who was struck in his left arm, was in stable condition at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.

SEPTA commuter Lisa Jones told CBS News Philadelphia that it is sad how commonplace such violence has become. “People have bad tempers, and people do not want to take time to talk something out, the first thing you do is go for a weapon,” she said. “And I’ve seen people on that train get upset over nothing. Instead of being able to walk away, they fight, or they bring out a weapon. It’s stupid, and it causes problems for everybody else.”

The incident caused delays on the Market-Frankford Line, with service later resuming around 10 a.m.

The incident came in the same week as another SEPTA shooting. Two people were rushed to hospital on Wednesday evening after being shot at Snyder Station on the Broad Street Line, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

There have been shootings at other transport hubs around the U.S. over the past 12 months.

A worker with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) shot a man at a train station during an argument, while shots were fired onboard a subway train in the Bronx in April last year, just days after a mass shooting at a Brooklyn train station that left 29 people injured.