By Robert Moran
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — The parents of a 15-year-old boy sought in Wednesday’s shooting on the Broad Street subway surrendered him to police late Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
The teenager faces charges including aggravated assault, simple assault, and reckless endangerment, police said at a news conference.
Capt. Sharon Seaborough, commanding officer of Central Detectives, thanked the parents for responding swiftly.
“I made the phone call to the father, and the father had his son [at Central Detectives] in an hour and a half,” she said.
The teen was turned over to police at 5:20.
“It’s so sad that the parents had to surrender their child,” Seaborough said.
The 15-year-old does not attend school, she said.
Police said that despite initial theories, the violence was not connected to what schools the victims attended. The shooting stemmed from a fight between individuals for reasons that are still not clear, police said.
Shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday, after a southbound Broad Street Line train pulled into the Susquehanna-Dauphin station in North Philadelphia, a male fired a gun from the platform into the car, which was packed with students.
Video surveillance shows an altercation on the train between two groups of teens, police said. It starts orally, then escalates to pushing and shoving.
When the train stops, the 15-year-old and several companions get off, police said. The teen walks to the next set of doors and opens fire into the car, police said. The teen and his companions then run out of the station.
A 17-year-old Fels High School student was shot in an arm and a 14-year-old Hartranft School student was shot in a leg, police said.
Both were taken to Temple University Hospital. The older teen has been released from the hospital. The younger was still in critical condition, police said Thursday.
A SEPTA spokeswoman said that each train car is equipped with 10 to 12 surveillance cameras. Subway stops have an average of 16 cameras.
A teenager, who police said may have been with the shooter, was taken into custody shortly after the shooting. He was still being held Thursday evening, Seaborough said.
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