SEPTA bus driver resigns after his unauthorized personal gun was stolen on duty

A SEPTA bus driver resigned Monday after reporting to police that a gun he was carrying in a bag on his bus was stolen Sunday night, an agency spokesperson said.

The driver violated SEPTA policy by having the gun, said agency spokesperson Andrew Busch.

The driver, who was not identified but who had been with SEPTA for around 10 years, was driving a Route 39 bus and had stopped for a layover at the 33rd and Dauphin Streets bus loop in Strawberry Mansion, Busch said.

A Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson said the driver reported parking his unoccupied bus at the SEPTA bus loop around 6 p.m. He told police he took a 10-minute break and left his gun on the bus inside a bookbag. When he returned, the bookbag was missing, the driver said. Investigators were reviewing video from the bus and the SEPTA facility.

“Except for police officers and sworn revenue agents, SEPTA employees are prohibited from carrying guns with them at work or otherwise having them on any SEPTA property, including vehicles, shops, offices, and personal vehicles parked on SEPTA property,” Busch said in an email.

The incident came the same day an off-duty SEPTA employee allegedly ran a red light and crashed her Mercedes-Benz into a SEPTA trolley in Kingsessing, injuring four people.

Brianna Satchell-Thomas, 31, of King of Prussia, a maintenance custodian for SEPTA, was expected to be charged with aggravated assault while driving under the influence, hindering apprehension, and other crimes, police said.

SEPTA continues to assess processes and procedures after six major accidents involving its buses and trolleys in a week resulted in one death and at least 25 injuries.

The transit agency has been reluctant to link the incidents, but has acknowledged ongoing struggles with staffing. As part of its investigation, SEPTA said it planned to get feedback from employees on safety issues. The agency also has been hiring more transit police officers.

Last month, a man shot at the driver’s-side window of a bus in North Philadelphia after attempting to board without paying, police said. No one was injured.

In May, two men were injured and one teenager was killed in separate shootings on SEPTA buses.