Bernetta Rembert was sitting alone in her SEPTA bus Tuesday night when she was shot in the arm. If she hadn't raised that arm to protect her head, she might not be alive. Rembert was able to drive herself -- in the bus -- to the hospital.
"Every day, bus operators and trolley operators face the good, the bad and ugly of Philadelphia. Last night, one of our operators faced the bad and the ugly and thank God, escaped with her life," said SEPTA General Manager Joe Casey on Wednesday during a press conference calling for better protection for transit workers.
Rembert was the 46th SEPTA worker attacked this year, according to Casey. That's more than twice the number of attacks on SEPTA workers -- twenty -- in 2010.
"These assaults include bus and trolley operators being cut with a razor, punched in the mouth, slapped, spit upon and sexually assaulted," Casey said. "This mindless and senseless violence against public transportation workers must stop."
SEPTA and Local 234, the Transport Workers Union, want the state to toughen up the law. Pennsylvania Senator Tina Tartaglione is sponsoring a bill to upgrade charges against attackers to aggravated assault. That would put transit workers in the same protective class as police officers, firefighters, mail carriers and public utility workers. Local 234 President John Johnson, also a victim of violence on the job, broke down during the press conference as he thanked Tartaglione:
"I apologize for my emotions, but this is a serious matter. Guns in Philadelphia, and what's taking place, is atrocious. I'm fearful for my family, as well as for everyone here. When you come to work as a bus driver, you shouldn't come to work with the fear of someone putting a gun to your head and wanting to take what you work hard to have."
The shooting happened in the Gray's Ferry section of the city while Rembert was on break. Police are looking for the two men who got away.
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