A SEPTA police officer shot a man during a shooting that followed a brief pursuit after a woman was shot 10 times and killed in South Philadelphia Tuesday morning, Philadelphia police and the transit agency said.
A SEPTA police officer shot a man during a shooting that followed a brief pursuit after a woman was shot 10 times and killed in South Philadelphia Tuesday morning, Philadelphia police and the transit agency said.
The incident began at South Broad and Ellsworth streets just before 8 a.m., Philadelphia police said.
A 20-year-old woman was shot around 10 times throughout her body, police said. Medics rushed the woman to the hospital where she died a short time later.
Philadelphia police identified her Wednesday as Sahmyra Garcia of the 1700 block of Moore Street.
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Two SEPTA police officers on regular patrol at the Ellsworth-Federal Station of the Broad Street Line subway heard the gunfire and rushed up to street level, SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch said.
The officers then saw a man suspected to be the gunman jumping into a car and driving off, Acting SEPTA Police Chief Charles Lawson later said.
The officers pursued the car and then found it crashed near South 11th and Ellsworth Streets (about two blocks away), Lawson said.
The man then ditched the car near by getting out of the crashed car's window, Lawson said.
The police officers gave chase on foot and after turning a corner saw the man holding what appeared to handgun, Lawson said. The man then pointed the gun at officers.
An exchange of gunfire ensued with one of the SEPTA officers firing at the suspect three times, Lawson said.
Bullets struck the man in his leg and soldier, SEPTA police said. Police rushed the man to the hospital where he was listed in stable condition with what were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.
No SEPTA officer was injured, SEPTA said.
It wasn't clear if the suspect actually fired at the police officers.
Lawson was grateful for his officer's responding so quickly.
"It was fantastic work by the officers, reacted extremely quickly, without hesitation, heroically, put themselves in harm's way" he said. "Who knows whether or not they were likely to prevent further gun violence in the city."
In the moments following the shooting, police could be seen surrounding an area on nearby South 11th Street.
Philly police said they recovered a gun.
Tuesday's shooting followed a deadly shooting on a Broad Street Line subway train just the day before.
Entering Tuesday, at least 451 homicides had been reported in Philadelphia so far this year, according to police data. That's down about 4% from the same time in 2021, which wound up being the deadliest on record in the city.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
