Police: Arrest Made In Connection With SEPTA Bus Stabbing

By Kristen Johanson, Alexandria Hoff, Andrew Kramer

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Philadelphia Police say they have made an arrest in connection with Friday's stabbing on a SEPTA bus.

Police say SEPTA officers were called to a stabbing on Torresdale Avenue around 2 p.m. on a report of a stabbing on a Route 56 SEPTA bus.

This began when the suspect was unable to pay the bus fare.

"Gets on the bus and doesn't have a proper transfer," says Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum with Northeast Detectives.

He says the driver then asked the suspect to get off the bus at the next stop. A fight then broke out when another passenger pushed the suspect off after he refused to exit:

"Turns out he had a knife, and stabs the victim several times in the neck and body area," says Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. He's listed in stable but critical condition and continued his recovery Sunday.

Lt. Rosenbaum urges riders ever faced with similar situations to resist taking action:

"Let the police handle these things. SEPTA has a police force, we have a police force, and we were responding along with SEPTA police, and SEPTA police did get there in a timely fashion, just not fast enough to catch the perpetrator."

The suspect's name has not yet been released.